The annual amFAR rat-circus at the Eden Roc was notable for many things, none of which were conveyed by the press who attended. To wit: jury chief Steven Spielberg skipped the event as did most of the jury. Only Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz attended, and briefly. In past years, the jury leader–like Robert DeNiro–at least put in an appearance.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s been holed up at the Hotel du Cap since last Tuesday a week courtesy of Warner Bros., refused to allow anyone to photograph him. My sources say he was an Invisible Man. Later he took most of the celebrities and hosted an after party at a private villa–eschewing the official after party.
During the auction, DiCaprio let some sucker pledge $1.5 million to ride with him in outer space. I don’t know how the winner would ever collect on this prize. First of all, commercial space travel is like human cloning and the metric system. Second, DiCaprio if he were to go in space, would require several bodyguards, a velvet rope and a VIP room. At all “Gatsby” events he’s rhe efused to remain with the public, even if they’re already vetted and Id’D as important people. Good luck with that.
“Cinema Against AIDS” made a lot of money, but it was largely due to the return of Sharon Stone. She was banished in 2010, but needed desperately. And you can see it worked.
But party planners really goofed, I am told. The winds were so high and the temperatures so cold that guests were shoved into the Eden Roc later like sardines. Also, traffic in and out of the duCap-Eden Roc driveways tied up the Antibes roads like crazy. “There were riots inside and out and a lot of angry guests,” a source who was up there told me. I was graciously invited by Moncler to the after party, but the traffic was prohibitive. That was amFAR’s fault.
DiCaprio by the way is going next to the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. He’s been at least three times to the famed Michelangelo restaurant in Antibes. His mother told me he gave her and her boyfriend an all expenses paid stay at the duCap and at the Festival, which was pretty nice.
Meantime, while amFAR raged on in its oveheated tent, the real place to be was the very chic and famous Tetou, on the water in Antibes. This is where a bowl of bouillabaisse starts at $150 a bowl. It was packed on Thursday night with the rich and the famous who departed amFAR in search of something better. They found it.
