Richard Johnson: Regina King plays NYC Rep. Shirley Chisholm in new Netflix film

Though she helped lead the fight against AIDS, launched George magazine, and publicized the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square, she stayed behind the scenes.

At her retirement party at the Chelsea Hotel, her former husband Clyde Haberman and offspring Maggie Haberman and Zach Haberman, all journalists, gathered with dozens of reporters to raise a glass.

“I was very lucky,” Nancy said. “(Company founder) Howard (Rubenstein) hired me. He shouldn’t have. Everybody here helped me.”

Nancy had one golden rule — broken so often — never lie to a reporter. She never did.

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R&B singer and producer Babyface — who has won 13 Grammys working with everyone from Usher and Janet Jackson to Ariana Grande and Whitney Houston — has discovered a new star.

Babyface has snapped up early work by 16-year-old painter Henri Reed, who was dubbed “Baby Basquiat” because of the influence the iconic artist has had on Reed.

Henri is painting a car-themed piece for the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center opening March 29. The wunderkind will paint the piece live for ABC’s program “In the Fast Lane” that will air on March 30.

The show will exhibit celebrity rides including Elvis Presley’s 1971 Stutz Blackhawk, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 1948 Packard and Princess Grace’s 1958 Mercedes-Benz.

LA-based Reed will have his first solo show April 18 at Emanuel Friedman’s Lux Contemporary, a gallery adjacent to Rolls Royce NY in Chelsea.

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Out & About … Dionne Warwick and Tommy Hilfiger’s wife, Dee Hilfiger, were honored at an AmfAR benefit. Tom Ford, Kris Jenner, Peter Thomas Roth, and Leonard and Aerin Lauder led the applause … Jean-George’s vegan restaurant abcV, whose regulars include John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, got a surprise order from celebrity hairdresser Chaz Dean, who literally took home a doggie bag to his four yellow retrievers Bella, Riley, Ryver and Rayne. The restaurant will open a new outpost in the Emory Hotel on April 4 … Suzanne Somers’ husband Alan Hamel was disappointed the Oscar telecast did not include Somers in the “In Memoriam” segment. The actress started her career as “the blonde in the Thunderbird” in “American Graffiti” along with Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss.

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