On 'Morning Joe,' Fenty's Mugging Refill

No, Adrian Fenty wasn't called to appear on MSNBC yesterday specifically to address the early a.m. mugging of anchor Mika Brzezinski outside a downtown hotel -- but hey, as long as they had him there . . .

The newsreader became newsmaker when she stepped outside the Ritz-Carlton at 22nd and M at 4:55 a.m. to wait for her ride to the studio. A man emerged from behind a bush and demanded $20. "Give me your money and you won't get hurt," she recalled him saying. She had only $6. He took it. (Early reports incorrectly said the robbery happened at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton.)

"I was very scared for a short period of time," the "Morning Joe" co-host told our colleague Howard Kurtz. "You feel all your muscles brace. It should not have happened."

Still, she added, "I have been in far worse situations." Which was no consolation to co-anchor Joe Scarborough, who boiled over during their usual on-air office-spouse banter.

"I am furious!" he declared. "It was right by the bell stand, five feet from the door!"

"It's fine!" she insisted, begging him to move on.

So naturally, he brought it up again when Fenty came on to talk about education. The mayor made all the right noises: "We are going to look at it and work with the hotel and the police department," and so on.

"Mayor, it was $6, it's okay," Brzezinski said. "I'll need $6 before I leave the bureau is all."

Ritz-Carlton officials declined to comment or otherwise join the fun. Said spokeswoman Colleen Evans: "The privacy of our guests is of the utmost concern to us."

A New Reality:

You Go To Elle, Girl

"Mature" and "nice" don't get much reality TV airtime -- but D.C.'s Johanna Cox defied the odds to beat nine others on CW's "Stylista" Wednesday, landing a junior-editor job at Elle magazine, a free N.Y.C. apartment for a year and a clothing allowance. Cox, 28, a Chinese linguist for a defense contractor, started her fashion blog, A Serious Job Is No Excuse, in 2006. That led to an audition for the show, in which would-be assistants battled to please Elle's news director, Anne Slowey. Cox took a month-long leave for the taping last spring -- then had to keep the secret of her victory for seven months.

"I haven't had more than two drinks in a sitting because I was petrified I would be lulled into a false sense of security," she told us. "I'm a bad liar, so I tried to avoid the questions. I feel a hundred pounds lighter today." Cox starts the new gig in January.

Oh, Baby!

First peek at Aerin Alexandra Fenty. Adrian and Michelle Fenty's new daughter, born Nov. 24, joins big brothers Matthew (left) and Andrew. Check out that head of hair!

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

· Maggie Gyllenhaal lunching with a pal at Georgetown's Cafe Bonaparte yesterday. Black tights, patterned skirt, cool boots, taller than you expect -- all the other lunching ladies stared. Not clear why the "Dark Knight" star was here; she's expected to be in town for the inauguration.

· Kevin Bacon and brother/bandmate Michael touring CIA headquarters yesterday before their Birchmere show, meeting several officers, including Director Mike Hayden (who's got an impressive musician-outreach program; the agency welcomed Kenny Rogers a few months ago). M. Bacon's farewell/thank-you: "We don't know exactly what you people do, but we're really glad you're doing it."

Quoted

"My understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer."

-- Playwright David Mamet to Variety after star Jeremy Piven abruptly left Broadway hit "Speed-the-Plow" because of his startlingly high mercury levels. His doctor told People the actor was eating too much sushi (twice a day!) and Chinese herbs.