NY- The New York Post “Page Fix” scandal grew yesterday as those familiar with the gossip page painted a picture of an out-of-control institution where lavish gifts are routinely bestowed on columnist Richard Johnson [pictured] and his staffers.

Johnson was feted at a bachelor party last month that cost in excess of $50,000 hosted by soft-core porn king Joe Francis at his palatial estate in Punta Mita, on Mexico’s glorious Pacific coast. More than 2,000 miles from New York, the resort area boasts 343 days of 80-degree sunshine.

Francis, 32, producer of the topless “Girls Gone Wild” spring-break video series, flew the party from New York on his private jet. Francis appears regularly in the column, almost always in a positive way.

Johnson also got a free trip to the Academy Awards last month, paid for by ABC and Mercedes-Benz. The trip included first-class airfare, a three-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and a car and driver.

New York Post spokesman Howard Rubenstein acknowledged that Johnson received both trips gratis.

“Richard will not let his coverage be determined by anything he may have received for free, or any other benefits, including the trips and the bachelor party,” Rubenstein said.

Asked whether such gratuities violate the Post’s ethics guidelines, Rubenstein said, “The paper has no response.”

“The freebies have been documented,” said Johnson’s ex-wife, Nadine Johnson, a publicist.

“I know that Richard never took any money,” she said.

The scandal exploded last Friday when the Daily News disclosed that longtime Page Six staffer Jared Paul Stern solicited $220,000 from billionaire investor Ron Burkle in return for a year’s “protection” against false items in the gossip page.

In two secretly videotaped face-to-face meetings with Burkle last month, Stern outlined how “levels of protection” for subjects of Page Six coverage could be bought.

The shakedown attempt is at the center of a sweeping investigation of Page Six by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI. “Mr. Stern said it was a setup and questioned both Burkle’s motives and the Daily News’ role in the proceedings,” Stern’s new attorney, Joseph Tacopina, said yesterday. “He looks forward to getting to the bottom of the matter.”

Burkle’s spokesman Michael Sitrick said yesterday, “Mr. Stern’s recharacterization of events [is] just that.

“As to what occurred in the meetings, the tapes are very clear as to what Mr. Stern said and what he didn’t say. They are also clear with respect to what Mr. Stern meant.”

Other Page Six staffers declined comment yesterday.

Johnson, who was married Saturday aboard a yacht off Palm Beach, Fla., was unavailable for comment.

Excerpts of the Burkle-Stern conversations were first disclosed in The News yesterday. Francis is among several Page Six staples who are mentioned in them.

A few days after the bachelor party, on March 28, Page Six ran an item on Francis that read: “Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis wants to go big-time. Insiders say Francis is not content with putting out videos of tipsy college girls (and now guys) doffing their tops and dropping their pants while on Spring Break or at Mardi Gras. He now has an eye on Playboy.”

The item quoted a source saying that Francis could be the next Hugh Hefner.

Stern also told Burkle that Johnson’s now wife, Sessa von Richthofen, was employed until recently as an administrative assistant with billionaire Revlon Chairman Ron Perelman’s holding company, McAndrews and Forbes.

“I hired her, I’m trying to remember, I think it was through a mutual friend of Richard’s and mine,” said Chris Taylor, vice president of corporate communications McAndrews and Forbes. “There was no quid pro quo, nothing about Perelman.”

But Perelman is also a regular in Page Six. His legendary romances and breakups – most recently with actress Ellen Barkin – have often, but not always, been cast in a favorable light in the column.

In his talks with Burkle, Stern also noted that three Page Six staffers had signed book contracts with movie producer Harvey Weinstein, former head of Miramax films.

One of the books, by Paula Froelich, “it!: 9 Secrets of the Rich and Famous That’ll Take You to the Top,” ranks poorly on the Amazon.com sales list.

Sarah Rothman, a spokesman for Weinstein, said the books were competitively bid with other companies and had nothing to do with Page Six.

“The allegation [by Stern] is categorically untrue,” said Rothman. “The New York Post and Page Six have always been aboveboard with our company.”

Johnson has had an up-and-down relationship with Nello Balan, the owner of Nello, a Madison Ave. restaurant frequented by celebrities. In September, Balan was charged with abusing his girlfriend and last month Page Six referred to him as “the Romanian roughneck.” On March 25, Balan took out a full-page ad whose cost has been estimated at as much as $60,000 opposite Page Six.

“I took the ad because they made an unnecessary comment about me,” Balan said. “It was wrong.”

On April 2, Nello was benignly mentioned in the celebrity “sightings” section of Page Six.