Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

You didn't expect Russell Simmons to be counseling Ashley Dupre out of the kindness of his heart, did you? The pieces are beginning to come together: Dupre's heartfelt account of her new mentor and yoga master today just so happens to have coincided with Dupre's debut as a blogger on Simmons' news aggregation website GlobalGrind.com. And it's not just Ashley sharing her story on the site. Russell is now blogging about meeting Dupre for the first time, too—his piece is entitled "Meeting Miss Ashley"—and both articles are currently the featured stories on the site's homepage. For the past year, Hollywood studios, record labels, fashion brands, and adult movie companies have been running around in circles looking for ways to cash in on Dupre's infamy. But it looks like Russell is going to walk away with the PR victory.More

Always on the phone... [DVF.com]

Martha, Master Yogi | When Fortune asked Martha Stewart to give a presentation at its "Most Powerful Women Summit" last weekend, the mag probably assumed she'd instruct the group on how to prepare the perfect rhubarb pie. Instead, Martha went all new-agey and decided what everyone really needed was to learn how to do a proper downward dog. (How fitting for these stressful economic times!) The only disappointment: While Martha did get to hang out Warren Buffet at the event, it does not appear she was able to convince him to step on to a yoga mat. [The Martha Blog]

Donna Karan no longer controls the company that bears her name: LVMH purchased the company in 2001 for $643 million, leaving her with an estimated $400 million fortune. She remains the company's creative director, of course, but she also keeps busy with philanthropic work. Last year the Queens-born designer shelled out $2.7 to various causes, including the $1 million to the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, which teaches Kabbalah to kids in schools. (Naturally, Madonna's also a big donor.) A fan of all sorts of new-age fads (she's expressed her fondness for "therapeutic screaming" and past life regressions in the past), Karan also has a soft spot for Tibet. Her Karan Weiss Foundation (which reflects the name of her late husband) contributed $200,000 to The Norbulingka Institute, which is dedicated to preserving Tibetan culture, and $20,000 to the International Tibetan Medical Association. The entire list—including her token $1,000 contribution to Bill Clinton's Global Initiative and the $59,000 she gave to pal Russell Simmons' foundation—after the jump.More

Last week Russell Simmons was in the news after his divorce settlement with Kimora Lee Simmons was made public. Simmons didn't comment on the settlement, which revealed that Kimora is getting sole custody of their kids and Russell will have to cough up half a million dollars a year in child support, but today he offers up the heartwarming tale of how he met his current girlfriend, 25-year-old model-turned-yoga instructor Porschla Coleman:

A little over a year ago, I met a very sweet and beautiful girl in Atlanta at a party for my book, Do You! We talked at length about our vegan diets and common interest in yoga. She too was feeling the shift that is happening in America right now of people looking inward. Both excited and energized by this consciousness, we found that we share a common belief -- that without our yoga practice, we would not be the people we are today. As our relationship deepened, so did her interest in the science of yoga.

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