More from Benjamin Svetkey
Dimitri, Hollywood’s Million-Dollar Maitre D’, Sails Off Into the Sunset (Tower)
At Tower Bar, everything old is new again. After six years of holding court at Jeff Klein’s tony San Vicente Bungalows, Dimitri Dimitrov is departing this week to become the major domo of Tower Bar, the star-packed Hollywood eatery at Klein’s Sunset Tower Hotel where the legendary 75-year-old maître d’ first started working 20 years ago. “Dimitri […]
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The DJ Behind the Dems’ Roll Call Dance Party
It’s usually the part of TV convention coverage when even the most zealous political junkies head to the refrigerator for a snack break. The roll call, when each state calls out the number of its delegates voting for a particular candidate, is largely a pro forma, ceremonial procedure, a bit like the Price Waterhouse segment […]
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“F*** These Trump-Loving Techies”: Hollywood Takes on Silicon Valley in an Epic Presidential Brawl
If you were to stick a pin in a timeline at the exact moment Silicon Valley declared war on Hollywood, it would likely land on Aug. 29, 1997. That’s the date Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph got together in Scotts Valley, about an hour south of San Francisco, and started a little DVD delivery company […]
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They’re Back: Kamala Harris Fires Up Hollywood’s Power Brokers
It’s hidden behind a fortress of foliage, so it’s hard to say what exactly it looks like. The other houses in this verdant patch of Brentwood, about a mile north of Sunset, vary in architectural styles from terra-cotta-topped Mediterranean casas to multimillion-dollar midcentury clapboards. But try to zero in on this gated, 35,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home […]
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Hollywood Flashback: When (Bob) Hope Ruled Hollywood
If you were to stick a pin in a timeline to find a key moment in Hollywood philanthropy, it could land on May 6, 1941. That’s the date Bob Hope took to a stage at an Army Air Corps Base in Riverside, California, and opened the curtains on the very first USO Camp Show. The United […]
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Sharon Stone Leaves Nothing Unturned
Elizabeth Taylor hurt her hip. And Sharon Stone’s life would never be the same. It was May 1995, and the Basic Instinct star, then 37, was at the Cannes Film Festival plugging her new movie, The Quick and the Dead, when she was approached by Dr. Mathilde Krim, founder of the American Foundation for AIDS […]
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Man Bites Dog: RFK Jr. Learns the Hard Way How White House Ambitions Can Be Undone by a Pooch
There are many, many reasons why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will never be president. For starters, his claim that a parasitic worm ate part of his brain is likely a deal breaker for a large segment of the American electorate, even if it does explain some of Kennedy’s wackier conspiracy theories, like the one about […]
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The Five Most Legendary Lawyers of 2024
Once a THR Legal Legend, always a THR Legal Legend. We’ve been publishing this special feature for six years, honoring entertainment attorneys whose careers have had enduring impact on both the entertainment industry and the law. Each year, a new group is inducted, and those chosen retain their title for life. Here are the 2024 […]
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Hollywood Flashback: ‘Kent State,’ When College Protests Were Considered Boffo TV
It’s hard to imagine many screenwriters pitching a movie based on this spring’s student protest over Israel’s war in Gaza. But there was a time in Hollywood, long ago, when campus unrest actually was considered boffo, greenlight-worthy material. In fact, back in 1981, NBC spent a then- whopping $5 million to film a three-hour docudrama […]
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Hollywood Flashback: Truman Capote Won an Emmy With Lee Radziwill by His Side
In Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology offering Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, author Truman Capote and his flock of socialite friends spend much of their leisure time preening at La Côte Basque, a French bistro on West 55th Street in Manhattan. But on one memorable occasion, Capote escorted one of his high society besties, Lee Radziwill, […]
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A Lawsuit, a Porn Mogul and a ‘Pawn Stars’ Cameo: The Bizarre Afterlife of O.J. Simpson’s White Bronco
It’s got less than 40,000 miles on the odometer, comes with luxurious leather interior and sports a V-8 engine packing a whopping 200 horsepower. But its biggest selling point is that its previous owner was a retired NFL star who only drove it around town for light errands — and one epic freeway police chase. […]
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Berlin Flashback: Four Decades Before ‘Killers,’ Scorsese Made His Berlin Debut With ‘Raging Bull’
This year, Martin Scorsese will be receiving the Honorary Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, celebrating the 81-year-old auteur’s lifetime achievement in cinema. But 43 years ago, in 1981, when Scorsese ventured to the Berlin festival for the first time for a non-competitive screening of Raging Bull, it didn’t look like he had much […]
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