De Niro rebuffs the Italians

Los Angeles — Actor Robert De Niro said “serious communications problems” led him to miss two appearances in Italy.

“It was a complicated situation and I’m not sure how it was handled at their end, but it certainly wasn’t handled properly at mine,” De Niro said in a statement issued Friday.

The Italian-American actor was to receive the Golden Ambrosius award on Thursday from the mayor of Milan. De Niro’s publicist said the actor arrived late and the officials did not wait for him.

Milan Mayor Gabriele Albertini, who said he waited 40 minutes, said the actor’s failure to pick up the award was “an incredible display of bad manners.”

On Friday, De Niro also did not attend a scheduled Rome appearance where he was to promote an Italian showcase at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York that he co-founded in 2002.

Nightclubs named for Hilton

Orlando, Fla. — Paris Hilton knows something about nightclubs, so it makes sense the hotel heiress is the inspiration for a handful of clubs that will bear her name.

Club Paris, named after “The Simple Life” star, plans to open on New Year’s Eve in Orlando. Local businessman Fred Khalilian hopes to open other Club Paris nightclubs in Las Vegas, New York City, Miami Beach, London and Paris.

Hilton will earn a “seven-figure” signing bonus for lending her name to the club. In return, she is contractually obligated to appear at the club at least twice a month. Hilton also helped select the interior design and is scheduled to attend the opening.

“Anything she touches is big,” he said. “The marketing is unbelievable.”

Friars stick it to Trump

New York — He’s Friared.

For more than two hours, billionaire mogul and television star Donald Trump suffered the verbal slings and arrows of nearly 75 comics, celebrities and friends at the annual Friars Club roast.

“The reason Trump puts his name on all his buildings is so that the banks know which ones to take back,” cracked comedian Rich Vos of NBC’s talent contest “Last Comic Standing.”

Susie Essman, of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” jabbed at Trump and his fiancee, Melania Knauss.

“You know what she sees in you?” she told Trump. “A billion dollars and high cholesterol.”

Jackson rocks vote on birthday

Beverly Hills, Calif. — The Rev. Jesse Jackson celebrated his election-themed 63rd birthday party at a swank hotel, surrounded by California Democratic leaders and celebrity activists.

“It is, at once, my 63rd birthday and it is also mobilizing friends for a 19-day countdown to the Nov. 2 election,” he said at a news conference before Thursday’s party at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Guests at the party included filmmaker Michael Moore, activist actor Mike Farrell, former Gov. Gray Davis and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters.