By Andrew Hornery
THE performance by morals-crusading radio star Chris Smith at his station 2GB's Christmas party involving not one but three glamorous young women has delivered him a particularly amoral dilemma.
Smith led the charge against photographer Bill Henson last year during the controversy over images of nude children. Smith's on-air tirades contributed to authorities shutting Henson's show.
The staunchly conservative married father of two and his on-air persona appear to be at odds given his past, which includes a notorious incident in the Channel Nine boardroom a decade ago. Following a boozy lunch, Smith, who was chief-of-staff at A Current Affair at the time, unzipped his fly and ''unfurled his member'' to several shocked women in the room.
On a separate occasion a senior newspaper journalist once had her breasts fondled by Smith while she was talking to a television identity at a corporate event. The following day Smith apologised and sent a large bunch of roses, thwarting official complaint.
This week tabloid reports surfaced about the mystery ''2GB groper'' who had to be put in a cab and sent home from the John Singleton-owned station's party last week at Doltone House in Pyrmont after he made inappropriate advances on a female co-worker.
PS can reveal Smith, who went on air the following day but has not been heard on the station since, had approached three women at the party, including glamorous weathergirl Magdalena Roze. None of the women has made an official complaint to management. Roze declined to comment to PS about the incident when approached, as did 2GB executive producer Ian Holland.
However Smith's colleague Ray Hadley went on air to tell his listeners that he was not the mystery ''groper''. ''The reputation of this radio station is very important to me and I think the young women that work here need to be treated with respect in every instance,'' Hadley told PS yesterday.
The other women involved are understood to work in 2GB's sales department and newsroom.
Smith, who did not respond to PS's repeated calls and emails, has previously admitted to having a problem with alcohol.
His friends were reluctant to intervene when his behaviour became out of control last week. As one of them told PS: ''He was at that David Hasselhoff-type stage.''
PARTY PRESENCE AT A PRICE
SYDNEY's party season is in full swing, but not all is as it seems when it comes to attracting the ''hottest'' crowd to your soiree. While it is not uncommon, no matter how incongruous, for such international celebrities as Paris Hilton to pocket six-figure sums to strut about a Sydney party and generate a bit of buzz for whatever benign product or venue is being launched, further down the celebrity food chain more and more local faces are cashing in on their ability to attract flashbulbs.
Free booze and a goodie bag are no longer enough to get some names along, with requests for ''appearance fees'' becoming common for party planners. So who's worth what in the pouting-for-pennies stakes?
''It all depends on what they want in return.
If the organiser of the event is really desperate to get them there and is willing to pay, then anything is possible,'' explained publicist Luke Ratcliffe, who looks after Tania ''Big in India'' Zaetta. The word is that a night with Zaetta, including photos, could be yours for about $2500, which is pretty good value when you compare her to the likes of, say, Hilton, whose appearance fees are northward of about $25,000. Does that mean Hilton is 10 times the celebrity Zaetta is?
There is no denying Maria Venuti has much to offer and her ample assets are helping fill her Christmas stockings, at about $2000 a pop to bring out her Mamma Klaus show.
Star City casino, not usually the most talked-about venue, has been investing heavily in appearance fees to ''pretty up'' guest lists and make them more desirable for social photographers. Not that organisers of these events wanted to divulge any details when PS queried them.
Ruby Rose and Natalie Bassingthwaighte have been known to collect the cashola for attending a seemingly endless number of parties. Their manager, Mark Byrne, says these days it's more about actually doing something at a function than merely turning up. Indeed Rose, who has inexplicably managed to generate a significant buzz despite her dubious talents, can earn about $8000 as a guest DJ.
Jennifer Hawkins can pocket up to $10,000 to turn up to a major event, while at the other end of the scale, also-ran Miss Universe Erin McNaught was in the running for $1,000 for turning on the Christmas lights at Star City.
Even Clare ''Chk Chk Boom'' Werbeloff has been able to cash in on her questionable fame, just last week pocketing $2500 to host something called The Hookers Ball in Darwin. She certainly works hard for her money.
MUSIC IS THE BEST MEDICINE
Six months after being diagnosed with breast cancer, singer Renee Geyer says her love of music and performing is getting her through one of the biggest battles of her life.
Geyer, who is still having treatment for the disease, will be gracing the stage at the Basement on December 29 and 30 for her annual ''holiday shows''.
She admitted to PS this week that 2009 had been a year of challenges but there was no room to ''wallow'' in self pity.
''I've had some health issues but everything seems to be going according to plan,'' Geyer, 56, said, agreeing she would rather focus on the ''positives'' in life.
''My music has been my saving grace and it's what has kept me going. I was diagnosed with breast cancer and have undergone treatment [chemotherapy and radiotherapy] and all looks OK.
''I've been singing all the way through my treatment and it has not affected my voice.''
Geyer said her message to other people who face similar hurdles in life is simply ''to carry on with your life and do what you have to do.''
In May, Geyer released her 23rd album, Reneessance, which was an acoustic rendering of her work.
Next year she is planning to release a complete retrospective and there are also plans afoot to update her explosive 2000 biography.
''A lot has happened since then so it is probably time to get it updated,'' she told PS, adding: ''I want to continue doing what I do really well for as long as I can … I really don't ponder much further than that.''
IT'S ABBOTT TIME WE WENT
The only thing missing from yesterday's chat between 2UE's outgoing talking head Steve Price and the newly installed Liberal leader Tony Abbott was a big, wet on-air kiss. But boy, did it get close. After gushingly thanking Price for helping Abbott ''bring about the change'', Price fawned: ''I just had your shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, here in the studio; he dropped in with a bottle of champagne. Look, this is not a mutual admiration society today, but I think what you have always done is you have spoken from your heart. So we might not all of us agree with what Tony Abbott has to say - and you certainly have some attitudes that people grapple with - but no one is going to die wondering where you are coming from in the next 12 months when we get to an election, I don't think.'' Get a room, guys.
MATCH-FIT BAKER
Karin Upton-Baker is due in court next week to battle the mortgagees who want to evict her and her husband, Gary Baker, from their swanky Elizabeth Bay pied-a-terre over non-repayment of their $18 million mortgage.
Gary Baker, a property developer, is making sure he's fighting fit for the encounter and has been spotted regularly around Ruschcutters Bay in recent days on an early morning jog, wearing skimpy shorts and keeping up quite a pace. No sign of the missus, though PS understands it has been business as usual for the couple, one of the most feted on Sydney's cocktail circuit.
STAR SNUB
Australia's first gay and lesbian newspaper, the Sydney Star Observer, celebrated its 1000th issue this week with an interesting line-up of political figures offering their respective good wishes in print. After 30 years the paper has earned its stripes as the gay and lesbian community's key media forum, and while the likes of the politicos Malcolm Turnbull (in his capacity as MP for Wentworth), Peter Garrett, Barry O'Farrell and Clover Moore were only too keen to offer their support by writing letters of congratulation to be published in the paper, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was a noticeable no-show. Had he missed the deadline perhaps? No, not quite. The paper told PS that Rudd's office had been contacted ''well in advance'' of the paper's deadlines but nothing materialised.
COVERED IN GLORY
The editor of Vogue Australia, Kirstie Clements was understandably chuffed yesterday to have her magazine selected by Time magazine in New York as one of the world's top 10 best magazine covers for the September issue, which celebrated Vogue Australia's 50th anniversary. A series of fashion illustrations featuring Cate Blanchett on the cover ranked among covers from international heavyweights The New Yorker, W magazine and Interview as the best of 2009.
PSssst…
A fine bromance has blossomed for Mr Kings Cross, John Ibrahim, courtesy of his ever evolving infamy. Despite the very best efforts of some of his relatives this year, the rehabilitation of Ibrahim's image appears to be going along at a cracking pace thanks to a string of glitzy party pals and an endless supply of headlines, good and bad. Once described in court papers as an ''organised crime figure'', Ibrahim, shirtless here, has struck up a tight friendship with the handsome young actor Firass Dirani, who plays him in the latest Underbelly series. PS's moles report Dirani has become a regular at many of Ibrahim's haunts, including the notorious Trademark and Piano Room bars in the Cross and Ibrahim's favoured espresso pitstop, Latteria, on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst. Dirani, who has been in everything from Power Rangers: Mystic Forces to Home & Away, has been getting a bit of career advice from Ibrahim, who recommended his publicist to the actor. Ibrahim has been a regular on the Underbelly set during the shoot, which wraps on Tuesday. Producers deny Ibrahim was a paid consultant on the show, however he did give his imprimatur for Dirani.