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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > May > 29 > Entry
Sara Blakely lands Marquis Jet (co-founder)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Spanx footless pantyhose founder Sara Blakely (below) probably isn’t footing those new baggage fees at the airport these days.
The Atlanta entrepreneur is sporting a new engagement ring from Marquis Jet co-founder Jesse Itzler, 39, who was recently selected as one of the “Forty Under 40” by biz bible Crain’s New York.
“Their lives have really been on a parallel track,” Blakely rep Misty Elliott tells Buzz. “They’re such an amazing match. We couldn’t be happier for them.”
At the dawn of the millennium, around the time Blakely’s revolutionary slimming pantyhose brand was shaping up, Itzler’s company, which “rents” jets to folks in pre-paid 25-hour increments, was taking off. According to Crain’s, Itzler’s company boasted revenues of more than $700 million in 2007.
The pair first got acquainted when Blakely became a Marquis client. When she launched her Sara Blakely Foundation here in Atlanta in 2006, Itzler was among the first donors to write her a check.
Blakely, 37, has built Spanx into a multimillion-dollar retail operation touted by Oscar-winning actresses and Oprah Winfrey.
We hear that an October island wedding is being planned in either the groom’s native New York or the bride’s birthplace of Florida.
Early last year, Blakely and Åtlanta businessman Lawton Ursrey amicably ended a brief engagement.
Oh, and if Blakely and Itzler should want to economize on the entertainment budget at their wedding reception this fall, Itzler could always pick up the microphone. In the early 1990s under the moniker Jesse Jaymes, Itzler’s white-boy rapper persona scored the MTV favorites “Shake It (Like a White Girl)” and “College Girls.”
Family night at Philips
The ticket may have said it was the Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” Tour, but it sure looked like Daughters Night Out. Everywhere you turned Wednesday night, there were moms and daughters, dads with daughters, families with daughters, all at Philips Arena to see one of the most talented and inspiring female artists in contemporary R&B music.
Let’s hope mom or dad covered their ears when “American Idol” Jordin Sparks got a little sad before she sang “Freeze,” and told the audience to cherish each other “because you guys, we don’t know how long we’re going to be here.”
Here’s hoping the little ones’ eyes were shielded as well, when one of Atlanta R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo’s dancers pranced in front of him, in lingerie, during “Mirror” and “Say It.”
And with all of that early use of their hands, maybe they didn’t mind only having sporadic things to applaud during the main attraction, like Cedric the Entertainer’s sermon in the opening video; Keys’ dynamic performance of Prince’s “How Come You Don’t Call Me” in the middle of the sometimes sleepy two-hour set; and whenever her piano was rolled out, and she stopped with the choreography.
Of course Buzz couldn’t let Ne-Yo go without asking him to discuss his one-time tour mate — R. Kelly. “Thankfully, there has been no R. Kelly craziness on this tour,” he said. “And at first I was getting kind of worried because the first two shows with Alicia didn’t happen because she got sick. And I only did two shows with R. Kelly, and I was gone. So I was like, ‘What is it with me touring and two shows?’ But the Alicia thing got going and it’s been good. Great.”
And what about Kelly finally going to trial on child pornography charges: “All I can say about that is, ‘Pray for that man.’ “
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Country singer Wynonna Judd is 44. Guitarist Tom Morello of Audioslave and Rage Against The Machine is 44. Singer-actress Idina Menzel is 37. Singer Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley is 34. Rapper Remy Ma is 28.
STORK REPORT
It’s a girl!
Home executive chef and “Top Chef” contestant Richard Blais (right) and his wife Jazmin Zepeda welcomed little Riley Maddox Thursday. We hear Riley weighed in at 7.9 pounds and 21 inches. The now-married Atlanta couple notably got engaged after Zepeda trained Blais for and he successfully completed the Peachtree Road Race in 2005.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Adrianne Murchison and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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