Was your New Year’s Eve a blowout or a bust? Better yet, how did it compare to the bashes of the rich and famous? You be the judge.
Leonardo DiCaprio and his posse partied up at his home in the Sunset Plaza area of Los Angeles. A slow crawl of cars choked the twisty, turny and ever-so-narrow streets of the Hollywood Hills–including one filled with Tobey Maguire and his crew–hoping to rub elbows with the Titanic star. Leo’s career may be as cold as an iceberg, but his party, we hear, was hot.
Hollywood’s youngest “It” couple, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe hosted their own bash at their luxurious Bel-Air digs, where fellow celebs like Renee Zellweger and Benicio Del Toro got their party favors for the night and enjoyed an all-vegan menu on the couple’s beautiful grounds.
Elsewhere in L.A., basketball center/rapper Shaquille O’Neal opened his plush pad to his pals, who sampled heartier–and pricier–fare: steak and lobster dinners.
Shifting to Old School: It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve at Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood if Harry Dean Stanton and Dabney Coleman didn’t salute the newly arrived 365 with cocktails at their usual perch outside the restaurant.
The Partyhopper Award goes to Heather Graham in New York, who (sans recent rumored squeeze del Toro, stuck at the Phillippe’s in L.A.) partied on the dance floor alongside Chelsea Clinton at Suite 16, then bounced over to Spa, where she overtook DJ Grandmaster Flash’s microphone before bopping over to Bungalow 8, where she boogied her night away with Chris Noth, Jay-Z and Jordana Brewster.
Not all Hollywood types need the fast lane to have fun: elsewhere in NYC, Kim Cattrall and her hubby stayed warm at home in front of the fire.
Linda Park, Ensign Hoshi Sato on UPN’s “Enterprise,” spent New Year’s Eve with friends and family in her hometown of San Jose, California, enjoying a welcome respite from Hollywood and her busy shooting schedule.
The Caribbean isles lured warm weather-seeking celebs like Denzel Washington, Jerry Hall and Tommy Hilfiger. But some like it cold: Aspen’s New Year revelers included Ben Affleck (no champagne for him, we assume), Kevin Costner, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Monica Lewinsky, who hit the Caribou Club where Milla Jovovich was getting her groove on.
But the star who was living the largest on New Year’s Eve had to be Sean “P.Diddy” Combs, who shook up Miami’s South Beach with his 1,000-guest Black & White Ball at the swanky Shore Club Hotel. Guests like Lenny Kravitz, the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and members of N’Sync watched the midnight sky light up with an amazing fireworks display. Sadly, no New Year’s buss for P.Diddy from last year’s date, the now-married Jennifer Lopez, who spent her night with hubby Cris Judd at an as-yet-undisclosed location.
