Just a few weeks after André Balazs bought the Chateau Marmont — he reportedly paid a little over $12 million for the 61-year-old, 63-room hotel in 1990 — he ran into legendary photographer Helmut Newton and his wife, June, in the lobby. The couple had been living part-time at the hotel for about three years.
“I introduced myself as the new owner, and we sat down and Helmut leaned back in the sofa,” Balazs recalls in an exclusive interview with Variety from his farm in upstate New York. “He starts telling me, ‘André, I’m so delighted to meet you, but whatever you do, don’t f— it up. Don’t f— up the hotel. It’s perfect.’ And as he’s saying that the sofa seam rips and a spring pops out.”
While Newton may have been enamored with the Chateau’s history and old Hollywood charm, Balazs knew things had to change.
“I introduced myself as the new owner, and we sat down and Helmut leaned back in the sofa,” Balazs recalls in an exclusive interview with Variety from his farm in upstate New York. “He starts telling me, ‘André, I’m so delighted to meet you, but whatever you do, don’t f— it up. Don’t f— up the hotel. It’s perfect.’ And as he’s saying that the sofa seam rips and a spring pops out.”
While Newton may have been enamored with the Chateau’s history and old Hollywood charm, Balazs knew things had to change.
- 8/12/2020
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
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