The capture of Brittney Griner was “a typical KGB move,” my source, the Reading Eagle, tells me

Brittney Griner, the basketball star sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for having less than a gram of hashish oil in her luggage, will not be released until she is exchanged.

The Russian government wants the release of Viktor Bout, an arms dealer known as the “Death Dealer” who has been in a federal prison in Illinois for the past decade.

“The Russians knew that war with Ukraine was coming, and they decided to capture a very prominent American,” said one of the sources.

The 6-foot-9 Griner of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury has also played in the offseason for UMMC Yekaterinburg in Yekaterinburg since 2014.

Griner, who wears a size 17 sneaker, has become famous among actors Kerry Washington, Amy Schumer and NBA star LeBron James.

“The capture of Griner was a typical move by the KGB,” said one Russian. “The accusations are fabricated.”

Cannabis oil is now legal in many states.

The WNBA is allowing the Phoenix Mercury to pay Griner until she is released without affecting the team’s salary cap.

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An elegant private party at a Southampton estate turned spectacular when Michelle Herbert, ex-wife of Pantone creator Larry Herbert, threw a drink at Alice Rover, a Russian from the city.

“One person was hit and he was wiping the drink off his jacket,” the witness said. “Alice kept coming up to Michele and I said, ‘Seriously, can you go to the other side of the room?’

The warring parties separated before the available photographer could take a shot.

Rover played it down, saying: “She wasn’t throwing up, she was just screaming. She immediately apologized. Everything is fine.”

Herbert admitted to me that she had dropped her drink but said, “Not to my face.”

The secular lioness refused to explain the reasons for the shooting.

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Estee Lauder heiress Aerin Lauder was the first to raise her hand and donate $75,000 to put her name on the God’s Love We Deliver van.

The home goods designer opened her elegant Hamptons estate in Wainscott to 300 supporters of the organization.

The property has two red cabooses, as well as gardens, a pool house and a gazebo.

“My grandmother loved columns, and that’s why there are many columns in the house. She also loved feeding people and kept chocolate and treats in her fridge.’

God’s Love We Deliver has distributed 30 million meals to people who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves.

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Richie Palmer, who opened Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills in 1991, is now based in Las Vegas at Resorts World Casino.

Katy Perry turned up at Xander Zayas’ party the other night, who just won the junior middleweight title.

After meeting fighters Sean Porter and Oscar De La Hoya, Perry took pies to her show and tossed slices to her appreciative fans.

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Bob Colacello, interviewed by George Gurley in Joan Jedel’s Hampton Sheet magazine, explains why interior decorator Peter Marino dresses in black leather like a motorcycle gangster.

Colacella, who works at the Peter Marino Art Foundation in Southampton, said: “Peter started wearing this look because Karl Lagerfeld told him: ‘If you want to be famous, you have to have a look, an extreme look. You have to brand yourself.” Like what Lagerfeld did with his 18th-century powdered hair and everything.”

According to Colacello, “Peter would go to a party and no one would take a picture of him because people knew his name but no one knew what he looked like. So the way he dresses to this day was a branding decision. It was his way of taking pictures.” And it worked.

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Republicans are heading to the Hamptons with arms outstretched to collect campaign donations.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will head to the East End on August 28 to raise funds for New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin.

The event will be hosted in a private home by entrepreneur Matthew J. Bruderman, who recently raised more than half a million dollars for Zeldin at an event hosted by former Vice President Mike Pence.

Bruderman will be on Social Life magazine’s Labor Day cover.

South Dakota Governor Christy Noem will be in the Hamptons for Dollars on August 24th, followed by Louisiana Senator John F. Kennedy on August 31st. Both shows will be held at the Amagansett home of metal magnet Andy Sabin.

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Chagit Leviev of Leviev Diamonds is so upset that con artist Simon Leviev took her name to prey on sympathetic women, she is selling diamond bracelets to benefit his victims and the Women for Women charity.

The real Leviev also created two miniature bracelets with two tiny diamonds for Pernila Sjöholm; The Tinder Scam victim is expecting twins this December.

Impostor Leviev is due back in court in Israel this year to face criminal charges of identity theft. False Leviev was born Shimon Yehuda Hayut.

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For those of you who remember and miss the fun 90s, uberchef Andrew Molen is aiming to recreate the legendary Tatou Supper Club with his mother, Sandra Arcara, who co-founded the original club with nightlife legend Marc Fleischmann.

Mother and son are writing a cookbook together and working together as chefs at fashionable parties in New York and the Hamptons.

The duo is looking for a downtown space and hopes to be up and running by next spring.

The original club hosted luminaries such as John Gotti, JFK, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

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