From the Department of Big-Ass Mea Culpas:

Well, friends, it turns out that America’s favorite scrappy-do movie star was NOT actually in Vermont over Easter. Contrary to what I wrote a few hours ago on Blurt and what a number of online gossip sites “reported” a couple days ago, Sandra Bullock did not dine at the Fair Haven Inn on the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Yikes! That means I was wrong. But how could that have happened? I’m never wrong.

Here’s the deal: After reading the celebrity sighting on RadarOnline.com, I called the Fair Haven restaurant where Bullock, her sister Gesine Bullock Prado and her brother-in-law Raymond Prado allegedly dined. I spoke with the restaurant’s owner, Mihaela Ieremias, and our conversation went exactly like this:

Me: I read a report that Sandra Bullock ate at your restaurant with her family on Easter Sunday. Is that true?

Ieremias: Yes, they were here.

Me: So can you tell me anything about it? 

Ieremias: I don’t want to give no more answers. We want to respect everyone’s privacy so when they come back a second time, they can come back and be safe. And I don’t want to say any more than that.

Then we hung up.

It turns out the Bullock-Prado family spent Easter in Chicago, where Ray was shooting a movie. Gesine wrote on her personal blog about visiting Portillo’s, Yolk and Intelligensia among other places. No word on where Sandra was over Easter. However, she was not at my house, nor was she at the Fair Haven Inn.

Ray kindly called me up earlier today to clarify. “This is a horrible situation we’re in,” he said, referring to his brother-in-law Jesse James’ alleged infidelities. “It’s hard.” Apparently, when the Hartford couple returned from Chicago, they had a legion of paparazzi camped out on their lawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bullock seeking refuge in our fair state. Ick.

So it seems that Ms. Ieremias was a Fibber McGee. I called her back to ask her about this. Here’s how that went:

Me: You told me earlier today Sandra Bullock ate in your restaurant over Easter, but her sister and brother-in-law say she was never there. Why did you say that?

Ieremias: (screaming) We just want everyone to leave us alone and stop all this gossiping.

Then she slammed the phone down. Awesome.

So here’s the takeaway from this: When you ply in celebrity goss, even if it’s seemingly innocent and you do your homework, you end up looking like a gigantic baboon’s ass (Ref. — Perez Hilton). And nobody wants to look like that.

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This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2010.

Lauren Ober was a Seven Days staff writer from 2009-2011.

12 replies on “Whoops! Miss Congeniality Was Congenial, Just Not in Vermont”

  1. The restaurant owner probably just misheard the “easter sunday” part. It’s entirely possible that they have eaten there.More to the point, was this really worth one blog post, let alone two? My nephew thought he saw Bono on Church Street last year but then we found out Bono was on tour that day, drop me a line next time there’s a slow news day and I’ll give you the juicy details.

  2. As a journalist, you check all the sources available. The fact that the restaurant owner, a seemingly reputable and believable source (considering, you know, they OWN it), blatantly lied for whatever reason they saw fit, is where Lauren got caught. Not her fault-she was lied to. What is commendable, though, is that she came back and righted the wrong-with a little humor thrown into the mix. Lighten up, ladies. Does it really get your panties in THAT much of a twist that Ms. Bullock was not, in fact, in your backyard?

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