Jeremy Piven’s mercury rising with model Ashley Chontos

Jeremy Piven is not getting much love from his former cast-mates but he does have a new hot girlfriend. The “Entourage” actor met  blond stunner Ashley Chontos, a 23-year-old model/waitress at Britney Spears’ birthday bash. Apparently Jeremy met several girls at Britney’s bash and playing the odds, gathered and picked up as many numbers as he could. That night, he supposedly sent out a mass text to everyone he’d met, saying, ‘Come to my room – whoever responds first gets me for the night.’  No word if anyone came but man what man what an ego.

Anyway at the party the ex-Choice Model was actually runnerup for the actor’s affections. He was really interested in a model who happens to be Ashley’s direct competition, but he was so insistent in his pursuit that he freaked her out. She stopped returning his calls, so he settled for Ashley in the long run.

But now according to pals of Chontos, Piven is so crazy about Chontos that he’s even planning on breaking tradition by taking her to the Golden Globes. For the past four ceremonies, he brought his mother, Joyce, but now he’s said to have arranged to fly Chontos to the West Coast on Jan. 10.

Piven is currently in Bangkok, undergoing treatments for his mercury condition, while Chontos is in Miami, soaking up some sun so she looks great for her ‘red carpet debut.’ She wants to get real dolled up, and has been discussing her outfit and jewelry practically every chance she gets.” Sounds like your classic shallow pig meets beautiful gold digger love story to me.

With the mercury-poisoned Piven’s hasty exit from Broadway’s “Speed the Plow,” the replacement actor Norbert Leo Butz is filling the role dialogue-heavy role until mid-January, when William H. Macy comes in.

Butz had only one week of rehearsal before starting onstage last week, and it’s been a tricky road of memorization. He even listens to his lines on iPod when getting massages.

At the Wednesday evening performance Butz was helped out by a prompter to remind him of his lines on a couple of occasions, and he read from a script during the play’s second and third scenes.
Meanwhile, costar Raul Espazra, with whom Butz shares a manager got another dig at Piven.

Mr. Esparza explained that Mr. Butz had already brought to the show “a real sense of trio.”
“Jeremy didn’t need to do anything, and the audience would automatically be on his side because he is so well known,” Mr. Esparza said. What Mr. Butz contributes is “a theater actor’s ability to tell a story well, to play in the ensemble,” he added. “He’s good at being part of the three of us.”

The weekend after Piven dropped out, Esparza and third costar Elizabeth Moss mocked Piven, with Moss fake crying and Esparza saying in part, “Today was the first time I really enjoyed playing this show.”

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