Who

A young social fixture, Palermo's aggressive attempts to scale the social ladder landed her on the cover of New York magazine in May 2007. More recently, she's become a reality TV staple thanks to her role alongside Whitney Port in MTV's The City.

Backstory

The daughter of a Connecticut real estate developer named Douglas Palermo, Olivia moved to New York to attend the New School. Attending class, though, soon took a backseat to making a splash on the social scene and she quickly finagled her way on to the society "It" list with some help from a publicist and some heavy-hitter friends, like childhood buddy Byrdie Bell. Palermo's social maneuvering finally paid off when she was cast in The Hills spinoff The City, in which she and Whitney Port appear to be "working" in the PR department at Diane von Furstenberg. 

Drama

Palermo was at the center of vapid socialite controversy in March 2007, when a blog posted a suck-up email which may or may not have been written by Palermo. Concerned that she'd alienated some of the city's more notable social fixtures, the pathetic missive attributed to Palermo was sent to 70 scenesters ("I would be honored to have the opportunity to start fresh with you all and hopefully one day, call you my friends"). Palermo's family immediately declared the email a forgery and hired a lawyer, claiming "identity theft." (The whole incident was apparently interesting enough to merit the cover of New York magazine.) But a month later, Olivia's well-publicized grudge with Tinsley Mortimer came to a head when the socialite queen reportedly shoved Palermo while the two catwalked at a charity event.

Personal

Palermo's ex is Brad Leinhardt, the founder of the fashion line Izzy Gold. She's now involved with Johannes Huebl, a male model whom she met thanks to Daniel Benedict. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment on Leonard Street in Tribeca.