Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Bethenny Frankel isn't going to be happy about this one bit, but her Real Housewives of New York City co-star, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, is going to appear semi-nude in the December issue of Playboy. The 40-year-old reality TV star won't have to worry about competing with the women almost half her age who normally grace the magazine's pages: The photos were reportedly taken by her ex-husband, photographer Gilles Bensimon, "several years ago." [In Touch, P6]
• Jennifer Aniston was reportedly in tears over a scene for her flick The Bounty because it reminded her of Brad Pitt. The actress supposedly pulled it together to shoot her lines, but the source said, "privately she is still very fragile." Her rep denies it ever happened. But if it did happen, Jen probably needs a better therapist. [P6]
• Topper Mortimer and his girlfriend, Vogue editor Valerie Boster hit the New Yorkers for Children Fall Gala on Tuesday night... as did Topper's ex, Tinsley. Val was reportedly "not happy," but luckily, they all weren't seated together so there was no WASP throwdown. [P6]More

Tinsley Loves Kids, Possibly Princes Too | Tinsley Mortimer has returned to NYC after a brief jaunt across the pond to hit up London Fashion Week. (She's now "living between New York and Knightsbridge," she explained to WWD earlier this week.) She rushed back to NYC yesterday, though, so she could make an appearance at the annual New Yorkers for Children gala at Cipriani 42nd Street last night. More

As hard as it may be to imagine, rumors have been floating around in recent days that social queen Tinsley Mortimer and her estranged husband, Topper, are now looking to reconcile. Crazy, huh? The evidence in favor of such an outlandish theory: Tinsley's German prince hasn't been seen by his new girlfriend's side at the dozens of events that the Tinz has attended during Fashion Week, but she has allegedly been seen in the company of Topper since returning from her European jaunt. The evidence against: Despite a report in New York a couple of weeks ago suggesting that Topper "hasn't entirely abandoned " the idea that Tinsley will come back to him, he's been "making the rounds" with Vogue editor Valerie Boster in recent days. Then there's this little dispatch from a tipster today:More

• Even President Obama has acknowledged (unofficially) that Kanye West's microphone-snatching episode at the VMAs made Kanye a "jackass." Lucky for Jay Leno—and his ratings—Kanye apologized (again) on the comedian's primetime debut last night. "It was rude, period... I'm just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else's hurt," West said. [NYDN, People, Us]
• Topper Mortimer is hooking up with Vogue editor Valerie Boster. (It's about time the dude moved on.) Meanwhile, his ex, Tinsley, is having issues with her new reality show. Producers are trying to drum up other socialites to make appearances since she's not "dynamic enough on her own." [P6]
• Jeremy Piven won't be hugging it out with the Public Theater any time soon. His lawyers have served the venue with a cease and desist over its play, "The Piven Monologues," which details his fishy bailout from "Speed the Plow." [P6]
• Patrick Swayze has died after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Stars have been paying tribute to the Dirty Dancing star via Twitter, and the old-fashioned way, in released statements. [NYDN, People, Us, Star]More

Artwalk NY's Junior Committee held its summer benefit on Saturday night in support of Coalition For the Homeless. Hosted by Bettina Prentice at her home in Sagaponack, attendees at the event included Minnie Mortimer and Stephen Gaghan, Michael Musto, Liam McMullan, Dalia Oberlander, Alan Rish, Kipton Cronkite, and Lisa Salzer—each of whom chipped in $25 at the door to benefit the organization. (The $25 allows the Coalition to feed 12 homeless New Yorkers people for a day.) Cityfile correspondent Douglas Marshall caught up with writer and dapper man-about-town Peter Davis to ask him about two very unlikely things: homelessness and his brother and sister-in law, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer.More

Teary-Eyed Topper | Social queen Tinsley Mortimer certainly seems to have moved on with her life: She's spending much of her time in London these days, happily dating a German prince, and now embarking on plans to conquer the world of fashion. Her estranged husband Topper hasn't been quite as lucky, according to Spencer Morgan, who writes about the unraveling of the "haute-Wasp fairy tale" in this week's New York: "Where Tinsley is blithe and carefree, Topper is tormented. He's become a full-time smoker. He's lost weight. He wakes up at precisely 3:25 every morning and plays over and over the reality show his life became. Still, he hasn't entirely abandoned the idea that she'll come back. 'I love my wife' is all he'll tell me." [NYM, previously]

• First Michael Jackson dies, and now this? It seems it's over for Tinsley Mortimer and her husband, Topper, now that Tinz is in London where she's taken up with a German prince named Casimir Wittgenstein-Sayn. Why the change of heart? For starters, "Cassie" makes more money than Topper and owns a castle in Germany. Even more importantly, marrying him would finally make the Tinz a princess. And opportunities like that don't come along every day, naturally. [P6, DM]
• Bradley Cooper denied rumors the other day that he's been dating Jennifer Aniston. One possible reason for that: It looks like he's involved with Renee Zellweger instead. [P6]
• Kevin Jonas is engaged. He's one of those annoying Jonas Brothers, in case you're not up to speed on your annoying teen pop stars. [People]
• A few years ago, someone walking through the meatpacking district would have complained about the stench of rotting meat. Nowadays? They're whining that Diane von Furstenberg's store is pumping perfume into the air. [P6] More

The New Yorkers for Children benefit attracted a predictably star-studded crowd to the Mandarin Oriental on Wednesday night. In addition to Zac Posen and Coco Rocha in matching ensembles, guests included Josh Hartnett, Emmy Rossum, Andre Balazs, Christine and Steve Schwarzman, Rachel Roy, Rachel Zoe, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Lucy Sykes Rellie and husband Euan Rellie, Andres and Lauren Santo Domingo, Alexis Bryan, Fabiola Beracasa, Gillian Hearst Simonds, Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Olivia Palermo ...More

Park Avenue Peerage was kind enough to upload an interview with Tinsley Mortimer from the March issue of Avenue magazine. And Tinsley was kind enough to shed a little light on her split—and subsequent reunion—with her husband, Topper:

We have felt our way through some difficult times and transitions, but we love each other very much. We look forward to being together and having a wonderful, exciting, yet, at times, challenging life together, and want to start a family.

Also? She says she's been "scaling back on her socializing" in recent months, which may explain why she decided to pose for the socialite rag in her pyjamas.

Tinsley and Topper's Mini Cash Crunch | Blogger ChiChi212 says that Tinsley Mortimer turned up at Pastis over the weekend with her on-again, off-again husband Topper in tow, but Tinz's credit card went missing—gasp!—and they had no way to get home, so "the bartender had to give them $20 from the bar so they could take a cab." This supposes Tinsley carries a single credit card in her oversized wallet and that Topper carries no money of his own, but before you go and dismiss it as a silly rumor, you're more than welcome to take a moment to savor the thought. [ChiChi212]

• It seems Rihanna and Chris Brown have reunited: The two have been holed up at Diddy's Star Island mansion since late last week and are now "focusing on a reconciliation." Not surprisingly, fans have been a little bit dismayed by the news. [NYDN, People, Reuters]
• Why didn't Katie Holmes walk the red carpet at the Oscars? She's on an "intense detox diet" that has left her "lethargic," poor thing. [NYDN]
• Sumner Redstone is reportedly dating a former flight attendant who is six decades his junior. [R&M]More

A recap of the last few days in benefits and parties—including the Frick Collection's Young Fellows Ball, above—is after the jump.More

These may be depressing times, but occasionally a bit of news comes along to remind you that we can overcome any obstacle, no matter how daunting, provided we just believe. Today's shot in the arm: Tinsley Mortimer (the newly-improved version, of course) appeared at the Frick Collection’s Annual Young Fellows Ball last night with husband Topper in tow, a couple of months after it was reported that couple had split up because Tinz was sick of Topper's "promiscuous ways." More

It's been nearly a month since it was reported that Tinsley Mortimer and her husband, Topper, were divorcing. And Tinsley is still missing in action! She skipped the screening of Our City Dreams this week, which was surprising considering it was sponsored by Dior Beauty. (Tinsley, of course, is a Dior Beauty Ambassador). She hasn't been photographed once in 2009; in fact, it's been 52 days since a photo of her has popped up on PatrickMcMullan.com. But she should know that she's very much missed. Indeed one fan of the blonde socialite who commented earlier seems downright despondent about her absence from the social scene:More

• Giuseppe Cipriani hasn't been seen in New York for months, but he says that has nothing to do with the handful of investigations now underway, or because he's banned from the US. He's just "busy" and says he'll return to New York "soon." His son Ignazio has been busy, too. The 20-year-old has been charged with third-degree assault for beating up a limo driver outside 1OAK back in December. [NYP, R&M]
• The latest man to fall into Paris Hilton's clutches: She was  was spotted at Sundance making out with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe. [P6, NYDN]
• Prince William's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, may be planning to move to New York to take a job in fashion, thanks to advice she received from Tom Ford and Anna Wintour. [Daily Express]
• Maureen Dowd threw a big party on Sunday eve to honor of David Geffen. In attendance: Tom Hanks, Jeff Zucker, David Katzenberg, Ron Howard, and George Stephanopoulos, who knocked over a tray of martinis and left the party red-faced. [P6] More