Smith, a model and Myer ambassador, grew tired of receiving foul messages and recently made cryptic posts about ignoring the haters and not letting himself become downtrodden.

Twitter is not a giant global love-in when strangers hurl abuse, get blocked, change their identities and become a new follower. Even Minogue went quiet on Twitter for for six days, returning yesterday. It's one way to avoid the modern-day lynch mob.

Bennett has more mouths to feed

VUE de Monde chef Shannon Bennett is feeding Victoria and populating it too, with wife Madeleine West, an actor, expecting their fourth child. The couple has a penchant for names with an ''x'' and are parents to Phoenix, Hendrix and Xsacha, so another X-cellent name must be in the wings when the stork arrives. With more mouths to feed, Bennett exclaimed: ''I'll be working until I'm 80!'' The owner of the Rialto restaurant Bistro Vue, and Cafe Vue in the city, St Kilda Road and at Melbourne Airport decided it's time to get a nanny to help with the nappies and the daily routine. A dish on Bennett's degustation menu received a descriptive critique by society caterer Peter Rowland in Saturday's Life & Style section when the caterer said it looked like a Band-Aid. Rowland wasn't implying it tasted like one but rang Bennett to clarify the point about the venison on rock salt. Bennett hadn't seen the article and when he received a message from Rowland, he feared something was wrong. Nothing a Band-Aid can't fix.

Palmer tightens rules for resort

CLIVE Palmer, the mining magnate wanting to sink the career of Wayne Swan and build the Titanic II, is also one of the National Trust's Living Treasures, along with pint-sized Kylie. Big Clive splashed $80 million to buy the Hyatt Regency Coolum on the Sunshine Coast but now it's the Coolum Golf and Spa. But that's not the only change. The country club set comprising medicos and other eastern-suburbs elite became time-share owners years ago when parting with up to $80,000 and have been stung by their privileges being cut. Goodbye discount room rates: what was about $130 a night is now $500. There's no half-price golf, free spa entry or tennis and bikes. Golf nuts are seriously peeved at having to dip into their pockets for a relaxing swing of the club. A legal dispute has bubbled over, with a resort spokesman saying: ''An offer to acquire the time-share interests is currently before ASIC.'' Never before has a soothing spa been in such demand.

Condello's Hitler play in disarray

BEFORE Mario Condello was gunned down in the gangland war, it was his dream that his brother Enzo, a playwright, stage a play about Hitler and his love affair with his half-niece, Geli Raubal. That is unlikely to happen due to a rift with the director, Jason Freddi, who informed Trades Hall's Bella Union that he and the cast of Hitler and the Tragedy of Geli Raubal had walked away from the controversial play before its May 18 opening. Enzo confirmed a rift with Freddi but denied that the cast had walked, saying he believed ''censorship'' and ''suppression of artistic expression'' were the reasons the venue wouldn't stage the play, because the leftie venue viewed the plot as ''anti-communist'', ''anti-Semitic'' and ''anti-atheist''. The venue's managing director, Catherine Woodfield, said she didn't cancel the play but after Freddi told her there was no director or cast, she had to make a ''judgment call'' about the likelihood of the production going ahead. She sympathised with Enzo, saying: ''As the writer and producer, it's an awful position to find yourself in.'' Enzo paid a $1300 deposit for the venue and Woodfield will negotiate with him about a refund. Enzo described Mario as a ''tragic figure'' and was distraught about the tragedy of his play not going ahead.