By Friday morning Minns’s office was trying to distance the premier from Sandilands’ guests,telling PS:“When you go to a wedding do you know every single guest? Or do you know the bride and the groom?”

Both Minns and Albanese’s spokespeople confirmed the leaders would still be attending the wedding.

Albanese’s office said it had nothing further to add yesterday,though the PM when questioned at a press conference in Brisbane yesterday acknowledged he was going to the wedding referring to Sandilands as “a significant public figure,[and] is a part of what is an Australian success story”.

Sandilands’ managerBruno Bouchet,also a groomsman,said Sandilands had become “good friends” with both politicians over recent years,but did not expand on exactly how well the controversial media identity knew them.

Last June the prime minister appeared on Sandilands’ breakfast radio show and promised he would DJ at the wedding. This week Sandilands told listeners the nation’s leader would be sitting next to his mother at the wedding.

Sandilands’s best man Main,a former Scots College student and associate of the late disgraced stockbrokerRene Rivkin,is the stepson of entertainerBarry Crocker. Twenty years ago,he spent four years of an eight-year sentence in an Italian jail after being convicted of drug trafficking in what was then described as the world’s biggest ecstasy haul.

He was also once the boyfriend of Hollywood actressNicollette Sheridan ofDesperate Housewives fame and a “personal assistant” to singer Liza Minnelli.

In more recent years Main ran a brothel in Sydney and ferried sex workers between jobs in a luxury limo with the number plate “Booty Bentley”. In 2019,he pleaded guilty to an assault occasioning actual bodily harm charge following a road rage incident in Rose Bay,though a subsequent sentence appeal from Main was dismissed.

Sandilands’ groomsman John Ibrahim is the author ofThe Last King of The Cross,a 2017 memoir his publisher Pan Macmillan describes as being written in “the mongrel tongue of the streets”. It has since been made into a multi-million-dollar television series streaming globally.

“Bullets fly,blades flash and bodies fall. In a city of shadows,John builds his army and empire - partying like a playboy prince of darkness while staying one step ahead of the cops,the outlaw gangs and hungry triggermen,plotting to take him and his family down,” the book’s publicity material says.

Albanese and Minns,along with their respective partners,will be among 130 guests invited to the private wedding,which will also include headline-attracting identitiesKarl Stefanovic and wifeJasmine,Beau Ryan,Guy Sebastian and Sandilands’ long-term co-hostJackie “O” Henderson.

It is the second wedding for Sandilands,51,who is marrying his former assistantTegan Kynaston,35,in a lavish ceremony and reception at the historic Darling Point mansion Swifts.

Sandilands,who earns over $5 million a year from his television and radio gigs,has been on air talking about the wedding in recent weeks,telling listeners his wedding cake alone was costing nearly $10,000,with another $150,000 spent on fresh flowers.

Literary lawsuit

The literary world is in a lather over a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in the Federal Court by one of the industry’s most prominent publishers,Kelly Fagan,against her employer Allen&Unwin.

Last month the court ordered Allen&Unwin not to proceed with any investigations or disciplinary action,including dismissing Fagan,based on allegations made against the company in a letter from Fagan’s lawyers sent on March 6.

Allen&Unwin has built a reputation of being a publisher of major feminist works,including the author Clementine Ford’s Fight Like A Girl. A spokesperson for the publisher said it was unable comment on the matter.

Murdochs among friends

Given the past few weeks,the last thingLachlan Murdoch probably wanted to see on Thursday night was another orange-haired clown.

After settling the Dominion defamation case over former president Donald Trump’s election loss in the United States for a cool $1.17 billion,dropping his defamation case against local website Crikey,and then firing his Fox News golden boy,right-wing hostTucker Carlson,by any measure it’s been a challenging few weeks for the Sydney-based global media mogul.

But good to their word,Murdoch and former supermodel wifeSarah, fronted up to Rose Bay’s Catalina on Thursday night,taking on the mantle as headline guests at the Ronald McDonald House Charities Sydney Gala Dinner.

No doubt they were in safe company. Among the guests were the likes of philanthropist and Westfield billionaire heiressMonica Saunders-Weinberg and husbandRichard Weinberg,radio personality and Murdoch employeeMichael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli and his wife,the gala dinner chairpersonLisa Wipfli,Murdoch buddies TV hostHamish Blake and wifeZoe Foster-Blake,fashion designerCamilla Freeman-Topperand husbandDavid Topper,andVogue Australia publisher and one of the Murdoch’s closest friends,Edwina McCann.

Zhang in ugly spat

Former Sydney fashion blogger turnedVogue China editor,Margaret Zhang,has landed in the centre of yet another ugly spat between rival Chinese fashion publishers.

This time Huasheng Media founderChuxuan Feng posted on Chinese social media site Weibo that blue-haired Zhang was being “disrespectful” to the Chinese market.

According to global fashion bibleWomen’s Wear Daily,the feud between the two appears to have been caused by model Du Juan breaking a non-compete rule introduced by Zhang.

Zhang reportedly set up the rule thatVogue China’s cover model cannot appear on any other fashion magazine covers three months before and one month after the release ofVogue China’s cover. Fashion magazines around the world have similar exclusivity policies,includingVogue Australia.

Du,who holds the record for having the greatest number ofVogue China covers,was set to appear on the cover of the May issue.But she appeared on the cover of the April issue of T Magazine China,which is published by Huasheng Media. Du’sVogue China cover was pulled at the last minute.

Zhang,who was reportedly hand-picked byVogue’s global high priestess,Anna Wintour,has been targeted before.Sophia Liao,former Condé Nast China president,who was unceremoniously removed in September 2020,publicly expressed her concerns over Zhang’s capability in a series of articles after winning an unfair dismissal suit against the publishing house.

Liao argued that Zhang was looking at China through a Western lens,rather than a Chinese one.

Buddies till the end

In the weeks before they both left this mortal coil,life-long friendsJohn Olsen andBarry Humphries maintained their close bond. Before Humphries died last Saturday night at St Vincent’s Hospital,he had been given a small etching by Olsen,featuring the artist’s famous frogs,as a “get well” gift. It would be one of his final works.

It is understood the Humphries family bid a private farewell to the comedian on Friday with a small gathering in the Southern Highlands,though the details remain shrouded in secrecy ahead of any State funeral being planned.

However,on Thursday at the Olsen Gallery in Paddington,Olsen was farewelled in an intimate funeral service for friends and family,including sonTim and daughterLouise,along with their extended families.

ArtistsCressida Campbell,Sophie Cape,Tim Storrier,Andrew Taylor,Ben Quilty,Luke Sciberras andJames McGrath were there,along with National Gallery of Australia directorNick Mitzevich and NGA Australian art curator and author of the seminal book on Olsen,Deborah Hart.

FriendsReg Livermore,Michael Yabsley,Oscar Humphries,Collette Dinnigan andBradley Cocks also paid their respects,along with a rare sighting of former Crown Casino bossJohn Alexander,and Olsen’s favourite chef,the now retired restaurateurLucio Galletto and wifeSally.

Olsen’s coffin was emblazoned with a reproduction of his famousSun Burst painting. Following his cremation the family plan to scatter his ashes at Camp Cove,near his favourite swimming spot.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up here.