Jeremy Piven seemed fully recovered from mercury poisoning at Thursday night’s “Entourage” premiere in LA. Spies at the Belvedere-hosted soiree on the Paramount lot told us, “Piven was looking Hayden Panettiere up and down in between sips of vodka and soda.” The 19-year-old “Heroes” starlet was with Alexis Dziena, who was in one episode of the HBO show, while Jamie-Lynn Sigler cuddled with beau Jerry Ferrara, who plays Turtle.

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What could possibly bring Jeremy Piven to his knees? Fish. In the August issue of Men’s Fitness, the “Entourage” star recalls his infamous mercury poisoning incident.

“I haven’t touched a piece of fish in nine months, and I’ve finally taken a break,” he says of the days following his illness, which led him to leave his Broadway stint in “Speed-the-Plow.”

“If you don’t balance your life, you’re going to be brought to your knees —that’s basically what happened to me.”

Since then, Piven has taken up yoga. “[My preconception was] you have to wear a leotard,” he jokes. “I mean, do you have to wear a bindi and hold incense?” But now, he credits lotus poses and downward facing dogs for giving him the calm to play Ari Gold on the TV show. “Ari’s got some quick-twitch anger,” Piven says. “To do that repeatedly, you have to come from a place of stillness.”

Namaste, Jeremy!

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It is bad enough that Kneeepads Magazine is the biggest kiss ass in the free world. OK, well they tie with Larry King, but Kneepads is still the biggest in print. Oh, wait. Larry King has a column doesn’t he? Well, anyway you get the idea. What Kneepads doesn’t usually do is lie. Until now. Maybe they would not call it a lie. Maybe they would use a different term. I will let you decide.

Jeremy Piven was interviewed last night and told Kneepads that he had not had any fish in ten months. This is of course because he is still dealing with the fallout of his “mercury poisoning” and has to pretend he hasn’t had any fish at all because eating it would put him on his deathbed.

Kneepads of course printed everything Jeremy said. “I haven’t had a piece of fish since the doctor told me to lower my blood mercury level. So, it’s been almost 10 months now.” Piven then went into a diatribe about how he really was close to death and how everyone should be concerned about him and that he blah, blah, blah, close to death, blah, blah, text me girls, blah, blah, blah.

If Kneepads would have bothered fact checking before kissing ass they would have seen that in March which was 3 months ago, and not 10, that Piven was spotted eating calamari (which is not technically fish) and also tuna tartare which last I checked is fish, and raw. Oh, and has the highest mercury count. (thanks to libby for checking the archives and not letting Piven or Kneepads get away with it)

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Apparently Jeremy Piven hasn’t pissed off any of the five actors from Actor’s Equity who all totally believed that Jeremy had mercury poisoning and that’s why he had to leave the play Speed The Plow well before his contract was over. Of course, the five producers on the board all thought Jeremy was a lying snake and voted to cut off his balls and feed them to fish. I thought that was a clever idea on their part since it all revolves around fish.

So, because it was a 5-5 tie, nothing happens. Yep. It is kind of like kissing your cousin. Nothing happens. It’s really only when you go beyond the kissing stage that you really have to worry. People talk and whisper. It is really the whispering that makes you crazy though because you don’t know if people are judging you or just talking about the weather.

According to the NY Times, Jeremy Piven managed to cry not once, but twice during the 20 minute interview after the three hour hearing. Basically he said that he was dying and that is the only reason he left the show. Uh huh. The producers can ask for more serious arbitration, but I think they are just going to let it go.

Look for the five actors who sided with Jeremy to all show up on Entourage this season and get a free copy of the season 5 DVD’s when they come out.

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JEREMY PIVEN is on the hook. He goes before the grievance committee of Actors’ Equity tomorrow to defend his much-snickered-at claim that high levels of mercury in his bloodstream, brought on by a passion for sushi, forced him to abandon the Broadway revival of David Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow.”

Piven is expected to attend the hearing, which will be held at Equity headquarters on West 46th Street, so that he can make his case in person, sources told The Post.

“It’s my understanding that he’ll be there - unless he has too much sushi on the plane from LA,” joked a person involved in the proceedings.

The producers of “Speed-the-Plow” brought Piven up on charges with Equity, arguing that his abrupt departure in December from the $3.5 million production wreaked havoc with their recoupment schedule.

Piven will appear before a committee of five actors and five producers. He is expected to brandish the results of a blood test given to him by his doctor, and will likely give a blow-by-blow account of his illness during the show.

Last month, Piven agreed to a blood test administered by a doctor hired by the producers of “Speed-the-Plow.”

The results of that test have not been revealed, but the producers are expected to allege that long before he claimed to be ill, Piven was agitating to leave the show.

He called several prominent actors on his own and begged them to replace him, sources said. He was also overheard telling people backstage that he was “bored out of his mind” in the show.

The producers also have a record of where Piven’s car and driver took him after performances, sources say.

Although Piven claimed he was so ill that he often went home after the show, sources say the log shows that he spent many nights out on the town.

The producers will also point out that in the past, many ailing stars have taken a leave of absence from a show but have returned when they felt better.

“Unless it’s a life-or-death situation, you usually find a temporary replacement and then negotiate a return,” said a producer not involved with “Speed-the-Plow.”

Piven informed the producers he was sick, then jumped on a plane to Los Angeles and announced he was not returning to the show.

“There was no discussion, no negotiation - he was just gone,” said a source.

If the grievance committee rules against Piven, it can force him to settle financially with the producers. If he refuses to abide by the committee’s decision, he can be expelled from the union - and the producers are free to go after him in civil court.

Although there are five actors on the committee, theater sources say Piven should not count on their support.

“I don’t think many theater actors are in favor of what he’s doing,” a veteran producer said. “They take jobs on Broadway very seriously, and he’s a Hollywood actor, behaving like one.”

Another top producer not involved with “Speed-the-Plow” pointed out that Equity has a responsibility to Piven’s co-stars, Raul Esparza and Elisabeth Moss, who were said to be upset with his behavior.

“What is the union telling a professional like Esparza, if they protect Jeremy Piven?” the producer said.

Reps for Piven could not be reached in time for comment.

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Jeremy Piven, who lost to Wilkinson in the supporting category — a rarity for Piven, whose Ari on HBO’s “Entourage” has garnered a lot of statues. Piven has had a rough few weeks since leaving the Broadway play “Speed the Plow” claiming he was felled by mercury poisoning. Since then, the press has been a horror, with the New York tabs accusing Piven of everything short of treason or genocide.

So here now is Piven’s side of things, as he explained it to me last night: “I was so sick for most of the run of the show. Some days I would sleep right until the time I had to go to the theater. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was exhausted. Finally, I went to a doctor at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut just so it wouldn’t turn into a circus. He said, ‘you’ve got to stop working.’ My heart rate was 47. My mercury level was off the charts. I hadn’t had a real break in 20 years of acting.’”

Many people are skeptical of Piven’s mercury excuse. Playwright David Mamet told the papers of Piven: “He wants to be a thermometer.” Piven told me that was a funny line. “But what do you expect? He’s a great writer.” Piven told me he had nothing but respect for co-star Raul Esparza, even though Esparza has bad mouthed him publicly since the exit. Last night at the HBO party, Piven spoke for the first time to his other ex-castmate, Elizabeth Moss. “We’re okay,” Jeremy told me. “She said she understood. She knew how much I put into the play.”

Piven does suspect the play’s producers of fueling the fire in the New York press. He doesn’t care. “My life has always been in the theater. I was raised in the theater.” And the truth is, Piven could not have gotten out of the play without a real diagnosis for insurance purposes. He says that years of being a fish eating vegetarian was enough to do the trick and act as a catalyst.

Some reality, not just opinion: Piven has no negative history in Hollywood or New York of shirking his duties. In fact, he’s been a reliable player in all media. It’s not like he’s ever had trouble on a set. And it wasn’t like he was trying to get out of “Speed the Plow” because of poor reviews. Critics and audiences loved his Bobby Gould. So maybe, just maybe, there’s nothing so fishy about Piven’s exit. Plus, business was good.

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The sex-mad hypochondriac, who’s in Thailand recovering from “mercury poisoning” after eating too much sushi, apparently can’t get enough of Mansion NYC employees, either. Not only did he hook up with waitress Ashley Chontos, he’s also been seeing hostess Brandi Harper. Harper, an African-American stunner who is studying cosmetology, met Piven backstage through friends after seeing him in “Speed-the-Plow.” A source said, “They went out several times, and she saw him the day before he became sick and had to leave the play. He was fine with her, though.” Piven has since been texting and calling Harper several times a day. “She was surprised when she found out he’d been seeing Ashley - but she didn’t really care,” the friend said. Harper told us, “I know Jeremy, and he is a gentleman.”

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As we know Jeremy Piven was forced to drop out the Broadway show Speed-The-Plow because he very elevated amount of mercury in his system from eating sushi two times a day and taking Chinese herbs. Well the show’s producer David Mamet’s response to Variety about him leaving show is classic and seems to really spell out how he feels about losing his male lead. 

“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury. So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”

Ouch and that is why I love David Mamet now!!! BTW William H Macy, a true actor, will be taking on the role next year!!!

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