Her Turn to Squirm

In the penthouse suite of the St. Regis Hotel--the same room once occupied by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and former President Bill Clinton (albeit on separate nights)--Hollywood journalist Kim Masters squirmed.

Perhaps it was the proximity Wednesday night of the very crowd she has skewered in Vanity Fair, Time and Premiere magazines for the last decade. To their credit, guests kept their snarky comments to themselves and dutifully nibbled expensive hors d’oeuvres in honor of Masters’ new Esquire column, the Industry.

But just two days earlier, at Premiere magazine’s Women in Hollywood luncheon, one woman offered Masters this backhanded compliment: “Great column this month!” “Thanks!” Masters replied. The woman snipped back, “I was being facetious !”

Masters is a former Washington Post politics reporter who has written or co-written a couple of Hollywood books (“Keys to the Kingdom: How Michael Eisner Lost His Grip” in 2000 and “Hit & Run: How Jon Peters & Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood” in 1996 with Nancy Griffin). She said Hollywood is tougher to penetrate than D.C. The circle of power, she said, is “more exclusive than the Senate.”

In this month’s column, Masters examines the succession plans of Hollywood moguls. Disney’s Michael Eisner “strangles any potential candidate in his cradle,” she writes. Revolution Studios’ Joe Roth is “one of the shrewdest people in the business.”

Paramount Pictures’ Jon Dolgen and Sherry Lansing are “smart, disciplined.” As for Michael Ovitz, Masters quotes his partner, Rick Yorn.

“I feel bad for my partner,” Yorn says. “Everybody hates this guy.” Ouch.

Loose Lips

Last week, after L.A. Councilman Dennis Zine referred to LAPD Chief Bernard Parks as “Osama bin Parks” during a Police Academy fund-raiser, Zine was taken to task by an informal coalition of community activists, including the NAACP’s Geraldine Washington, lobbyist Maureen Kindel and Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

“Who needs this?” Cooper said. “This is not something L.A. needs right now.”

On Monday, in a letter, Zine apologized to the police chief. Through a spokeswoman, Zine said the comment “was not intended to disrespect the chief of police in any way.”

“There’s a pre-Sept. 11 reality and a post-Sept. 11 reality, and people in public life should be sensitive to that fact,” Cooper said.

Zine made his remark after sparring with Parks over what kind of lapel pins officers should be allowed to wear on their uniforms. Parks wanted officers to wear a DARE America flag pin, while Zine, a former police union activist, advocated a 911 pin designed by the Police Protective League.

Devil on the Lam

New Jersey Devils rookie Mike Jefferson, 20, may be in a real pickle. He recently left his team and headed for Southern California to recover from an injury and pursue an acting career, auditioning last weekend for the role of a teenage Austin Powers for the upcoming movie sequel.

On Wednesday, however, the hockey team’s general manager, Lou Lamoriello, told us Jefferson had been suspended from the team for going AWOL.

Jefferson suffered abdominal injuries in late September after being checked during a game against the New York Rangers. Team doctors diagnosed his injury as a bruise and ordered him to the less rigorous Albany, N.Y., farm team. But Jefferson never showed up. Instead, he flew to L.A. for a second opinion.

“He had a responsibility, and he took it into his own hands,” Lamoriello said. As for the audition, Lamoriello had this to say: “This is the first time I’ve heard of that.”

As for Jefferson’s acting aspirations, New Line Cinema casting people told us on Thursday he’d be hearing those much dreaded words: “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.”