Shakespeare shakedown

Tony Danza and Judd Hirsch attend the after party for the "Anonymous" screening at the Circo on October 20, 2011 in NY City.Roland Emmerich and Joely Richardson party at Circo.The Bard didn't write any of those classic plays?"I was surprised by the author question," Joely Richardson said of her new pic "Anonymous," which Columbia Pictures preemed Thursday at MoMA. "I thought, 'They're kidding, right? Who's come up with this now?' Then when I read up I realized it's been an ongoing debate -- and I prefer 'debate' to 'conspiracy.'"Helmer Roland Emmerich believes that his being German helped him to conceive such an outrageous tale."It does give you a benefit, because you look from the outside in," he said. "Also, I was fearless. Many people call it stupidness, but I don't care what other people think." Newlyweds Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell avoided the red carpet at MoMA, then skipped the afterparty at Circo. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com