Battle of the Queens. (BTW).

"Leona's Leather Nightmare!" and "Leona sez beau wore her undies!" blared the front pages of New York's tabloids (esp. the Post). The Leona in question was of course Leona Helmsley, the billionaire real estate heiress, "queen of mean," tax-evading ex-con, hotelier extraordinaire--who at 82 still manages her hotel empire. This time, Helmsley was being sued for firing Charles Bell, general manager of her Park Lane Hotel, allegediy because he's gay. At the highly publicized trial, Andrew Martinez, former director of Helmsley's security force, testified that his boss had said, "I got rid of one fag. I want to get rid of the other." The first "fag" in question was in fact her fiance, Patrick Ward, whom Helmsley had discovered was gay and wore her underwear. The second was Charles Bell, who'd been hired by Ward, the man who done her wrong. Helmsley denied in court that she ever used the "f' word. But this was no simple case of "He said, she said." Bell broke down sobbing in a performance that the Post nominated for an Oscar as "Best Drama Queen." Much of the testimony tamed on an incident in which Helmsley allegedly stepped into the Park Lane elevator and found herself face-to-face with a man with shaved head in "leather fetish" regalia, who tamed Out to be Kristof Probst, Bell's boyfriend. Reported Helmsley on seeing this apparition in the elevator: "I was scared!" No word on Probst's state of mind upon encountering Helmsley there. (Coda: The jury found for Bell, who was awarded $11 million, likely to be reduced on appeal.)