In the case of the phone-hacking flack, the saying, “All publicity is good publicity” couldn’t be further from the truth.
Pals of former Dolce & Gabbana mouthpiece Ali Wise — who used her access to designer swag to leverage friendships on both coasts — are rushing from her side like rats from a sinking ship after she was charged with hacking into female rivals’ voice mails.
That’s because they fear they may be victims, too, sources said.
“There are people out there who are absolutely wondering if she was doing the same to them,” said one person who’s known Wise for years.
Aside from industry buddies, Wise is longtime pals with such celebs as Kate Hudson and “Heroes” actress Ali Larter.
Wise, 30, has been charged in Manhattan with using “SpoofCard” software nearly 700 times to break into the voice mails of four people — at least two of whom were dating her ex-boyfriends. People who know her described the furious fashionista as too “obsessive-compulsive” to have left it at that.
At the heart of the case is Wise’s ongoing battle with designer Nina Freudenberger, whose voice mails were hacked into after she started dating Wise’s ex, music exec Josh Deutsch.
Sources say that at least one other of her victims also had dated Wise’s on-again, off-again beau, hotelier Jason Pomeranc.
With all her dirty laundry aired in open court, Wise is now radioactive in the industry, the sources said.
Insiders said she would have trouble landing another plum gig like the one she had before her bust — doing publicity for haute brand Dolce & Gabbana, where she rubbed elbows with swag-hungry celebs. “Who would take a free bag from this woman? She has confidential information on all these VIPs — it’s a liability to have her on board,” said an industry source.
Wise’s spokesman disputed that she was unhireable, noting she “has been approached about many different opportunities and is currently serving as a consultant on several high-profile, philanthropic events in the media and entertainment industries.”
But many who had encounters with Wise over the years said there would be no shortage of people happy to tap-dance on her professional grave.
“Ali Wise has a lot of enemies because she was terribly mean to a lot of people,” said someone who has worked with her in the past. “She was catty and malicious and underhanded.”
The blond society babe has at least one person still standing by her — Pomeranc, in whose SoHo apartment The Post found her yesterday.
“It’s really rude for you to come up here,” she said.
Meanwhile, Wise’s lawyer said the case of computer tampering and eavesdropping was a stretch at best. “We’re talking about statutes that really were put on the books to prevent identity theft and corporate spying,” Edward Kratt said. “There are substantive legal issues involved as to whether hacking into telephone software is the same thing as computer hacking.”
Additional reporting by Laurie Kamens