Inside midtown Manhattan’s Bistro Milano, television screens broadcast an Italian soccer game, around which the majority of servers and patrons have crowded to gasp, cheer, and clap in unity. But first-time actress Gabourey Sidibe, oblivious, drowns out the clatter with her frequent snort-punctuated laughter. “My roommate and I love Chipotle. It’s so awesome!” she says, chuckling. “We go around noon, and we’re like, How badass would it be if we got a Corona with our burrito -- we’re such derelicts.” Sidibe’s definition of what makes a derelict couldn’t be further from the abuse she suffers as the title character in Lee Daniel’s Precious. Alongside Mo’Nique as her bilious mother, Sidibe plays a teenager who is twice impregnated by her HIV-positive father. The film, a dark but hopeful story about urban poverty and spiritual endurance, was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, and will quite possibly garner Oscar nominations for its two leads. Here, the charming and spirited Sidibe explains the magic of being in the same room with Oprah, Mariah and, um, Steve Buscemi. (For more on Sidibe, check out the upcoming December/January issue of BlackBook -- this is just the gossipy stuff.)

Are threesomes the final taboo of network television? The CW sure seems to think so. Yesterday, The Wrap obtained a strongly worded letter from the Parents Television Council, who got all riled up over an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl in which three of the show's characters engage in an OM3. The PTC writes, “Television is profoundly influential in the lives of children, especially when it comes to sexual decision making -- it has even been described by one researcher as a 'sexual super-peer' -- signifying television's power to amplify, many times over, the peer-pressure teens are already feeling to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors." Maybe they're on to something.

I came across this photo yesterday on the Purple Diary and didn't much consider the caption: "[Graffiti artist] Andre in front of the soon to be reopened Beatrice Inn, New York." Fans of the shuttered speakeasy have been eagerly awaiting a revival since it was first padlocked back in April.

She wore plastic bubbles for David LaChapelle on the cover of Rolling Stone and, in no particular order, appeared bloodied at this year's VMAs, wrapped a Slinky on her head during a taping of Ellen, and for some reason has an outfit made entirely of stuffed frogs. She might be the most frightening woman in the world aside from Bai Ling, which, when paired with an aversion to pants, makes for Halloween costume gold. A friend of mine went to a party as Gaga with balls, which was rather disconcerting, but her aside, here are five of the more awkward interpretations from Saturday night.

"What makes someone an icon? Is Nelson Mandela an icon? Is Václav Havel an icon? Is the alien from Alien: Resurrection an icon? I don’t know what the requirements are.” Winona Ryder pauses to consider the well-oiled word from the far reaches of the lobby lounge at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. Her cap is pulled down to hide the face of an Edward Gorey beauty rendered in chalk. She sits on her tiny feet as if to keep them warm.

BlackBook senior editor Nick Haramis may be one of the biggest beauty junkies I know. He collects more products then he knows what to do with, and he has tried them all. It often goes overlooked, but gents are often more product-savvy (and in many cases, more picky) than gals. Since Haramis has been around the block (the one with a Sephora and a Keihl's), he would know best. This one is for the boys.

“I’m in da toilet! Call me back in five?” A clicking sound signals the end of my call to Ari Up of the Slits. Three decades after forming the all-female punk- and reggae-infused band at the age of 14, she hasn’t smoothed any of her charming rough edges. When the Slits released their debut album Cut in 1976, they plotted the downfall of the Queen with the Sex Pistols and their rowdy cohorts. They inspired everyone from Boy George to Cher. When they first started getting radio play, hosts refused to utter the band’s name. Still, the Slits’ recognition and legacy has been minimal at best. After disbanding in the 1980s, Ari moved to Borneo where she lived with a local tribe. She later relocated to Kingston, Jamaica, where she has become a dreadlocked dancehall legend known as Medusa. Here, the outsider’s outsider discusses her decision to re-form the Slits and release this month’s Trapped Animal, while considering her deadly Jamaican routine, and why Madonna and Lady Gaga owe her big.

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He built his empire with the swagger he learned from the streets. And while the hustler turned hip-hop icon has had his professional triumphs (awards, parties, wealth beyond belief), he’s also had his share of personal catastrophe (murders, infidelities, heartbreak) as he’s kept up the near-impossible struggle to stay on top. After two decades in the game, Sean “Diddy” Combs—free of superstar posturing, bad-boy sunglasses and bombshell girlfriends—discusses Last Train to Paris, his most vulnerable and soulful album to date, and the wild ride that got him here alive.

What do you get when you pair a Philly-based DJ with a penchant for dinosaurs and a British producer whose pseudonym was once changed from Solid Groove to Switch?

On their sophomore effort, Temporary Pleasure, London-based producers James Ford and Jas Shaw serve up an exhilarating party platter of analog dance anthems, featuring an indie wet dream of collaborators from the Gossip’s Beth Ditto and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor to Telepathe.