Philadelphia

PHILLY’S BIGGEST CELEBRITY STORIES IN 2013 – MOST GOING VIRAL NATIONALLY

December 31, 2013 by HughE Dillon

This morning I had a segment on Fox 29 on Philly’s biggest celebrity moments: Here’s what I chose.

After the July 19th show, Taylor Swift, Austin Mahone and Ed Sheeran
popped into Ralph’s in the Italian Market for a late-night dinner. Swift,
seen above in Ralph’s dining room center, had chicken parm. Swift left a $500
tip on an $800 check (that’s 62.5%), which may just make her the most
generous 23-year-old on the planet. (photo taken by Ralph’s Italian
Restaurant and used by permission.)

During the meal someone at the restaurant tweeted to Taylor Swift thanking her for stopping in. Well you know the fans are all over twitter and following her. They saw that and hightailed it to the restaurant with mom in tow, some mom’s were in PJ’s. When Taylor’s peeps saw that she made a speedy exit through the kitchen, and was then escorted back to the Four Seasons with a 3 police motorcycle motorcade.
Because of the Film Tax Credit fiasco, we lost so many productions to other cities. The first one to return after nearly a year’s absence was Franny, starring Richard Gere. Where ever he went he was a true gentleman signing autographs and posing for photos.
Same goes for little Dakota Fanning and co-star Theo James. Although Theo isn’t an America star yet, he has a huge following and everyday his fans would write me on his whereabouts.

Justin Bieber fans waiting in the 100F weather at the Four Seasons for him, but he never showed up.
Justin Beiber was supposed to check into his the Four Seasons before his
concert Oh baby. Justin Bieber seems to be inventing more and more
creative ways to cause controversy. After jet skiing in Long Island,
then partying until the early morning hours on Tuesday night (July 18)
in New York City, he angered hotel staff at the Philadelphia Four
Seasons when he failed to show up after reserving 18 rooms. Justin
canceled the block of rooms, including the luxe Presidential Suite “at
the very last minute,” leaving behind a carton of pop rocks he demanded
be in his room. He said he was afraid of the Philly Paparazzi as an
excuse. (Justin Beiber Instagram). It’s ok, the kid has blown up his career. His movie failed, his CD failed, he’s in a nose dive surrounded by people who are sucking the air out of him. Hello Austin Mahone, take a look at Justin and do better.

 

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian went to this Wendy’s late one night after his concert. Only one photo exists, I hear it was taken by his staff member and tweeted out “they’re just like us”, well that and a few million dollars. What they are, are a master publicity machine. Kudo’s to them.

The biggest Celebrity Moment in Philly, and one that went super viral….
Sad, Sad Drake – I chatted this up on Fox 29, then sent it over to my editor at PhillyMag.com, Brian Howard, who titled it. It went viral all over the world.
was staying at Hotel Monaco. When his concert was
cancelled, he headed back to the hotel bar where he ran into Laura
Roberts, who’s engaged to Eagles player Kurt Coleman. They asked him to
pose for a photo and he did. Recently I chatted with Laura and asked
her how the photo came about, she said that she and the gals were in the Vapor Room at Stratus Lounge. The powers that be came into the space and cleared it out except for their reserved party. Drake came in and they asked for a photo, and he was super nice and complied. And that’s how Sad Drake came about. Congrats to Laura Roberts and Kurt Coleman on their 2/7/14 wedding. (Laura Roberts and used by permission)