Mr. Francis could not be reached yesterday.  Mr. Johnson also accepted a free trip to the Academy Awards last month, courtesy of ABC and Mercedes-Benz, including first-class airfare and a three-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel. Mercedes-Benz also provided a car and driver for Mr. Johnson throughout the weekend, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz, Geoff Day, confirmed. Mr. Stern, 35, began working full time for The Post in 1997. In 2003, Bonnie Fuller hired him to be the executive editor of Star, a position he left within a year. He returned to The Post as a contributor. In addition he wrote for other publications, including two articles for The Times. In the March 31 meeting, Mr. Burkle mainly haggled with Mr. Stern over how his payments should be made: in cash, as Mr. Stern wanted, or by wire transfer, as the authorities had pressed Mr. Burkle to insist, according to a person involved in the investigation. In that meeting, the person involved in the investigation said, Mr. Stern spoke of Page Six's power.

"We know how to destroy people," Mr. Stern said, according to a person reading a transcript of the meeting. "It's what we do. We do it without creating liability. That's our specialty."

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez has been sued by a screenwriter who claims she stole his idea for a US TV series. Jack Bunick alleges that South Beach, a program on which Lopez is executive producer, is the same as South Beach Miami, a script he wrote in 1999. Mr. Bunick also claims he pitched the idea to South Beach's broadcaster UPN but was never contacted. He has applied for an injunction barring further transmission of the series, which the network cancelled.