New York ? It started with a few seemingly innocuous gossip items about billionaire businessman Ron Burkle.

The New York Post’s Page Six, a supermarket of stories about bold-faced names, said the “party-boy billionaire” was dating a supermodel. Another story detailed “Spiderman” star Tobey Maguire flying on Burkle’s private jet for a New Year’s weekend at his Aspen, Colo., mansion.

Burkle, a 53-year-old divorce, was not amused.

The stories, he said, were bogus and had to stop. Page Six contributor Jared Paul Stern is suspected of demanding $100,000 and an annual $10,000 stipend from Ron Burkle in exchange for not writing negative stories about him, the Post said.

Now, the newspaper has suspended Stern amid a federal investigation into the allegations.

Stern’s attorney, Edward Hayes, was hopeful that criminal charges against his client would not be necessary.