Paris Hilton: Cloud Of Nothing?

February 26, 2008

It is shocking to hear common sense enter the world of Vegas nightlife, particularly these days. But Andrew Sasson surprised me. He doesn't even revere Paris Hilton, and isn't afraid to say so; and this man owns nightclubs in Vegas?

You see, while I had Sasson, founder and owner of Light Group, on the phone about his new partnership with Dubai, I had to ask him about the IRS investigation into his big competitor Pure Management Group. Unsurprisingly, he offered "No comment," though, I must add, he delivered his "No comment" with a schadenfreude-filled giggle. That is my interpretation of the giggle, anyway.

And who could blame him? The competition between Pure and Light (for customers, for venues, for employees, for talent) in Las Vegas has been intense and sometimes vicious.

I had heard how Pure Management Group's use of paid celebrity hosts, in particular, infuriated Sasson.

And so I asked Sasson about his thoughts on paying celebrities to hang out at his clubs in Vegas, and the intensity of his answer speaks for itself.

I should note that while Pure Management Group is not mentioned by Sasson even once in his answer, Paris Hilton has become a regular hostess at all of PMG's clubs (Pure and LAX), including on New Year's Eve:

Richard Abowitz: What do you think of compensation for celebrity hosts?

Andrew Sasson: We don't really do it. When I started a long time ago -- I don't know if it was right or wrong, 20/20 hindsight -- we would send private jets and give them great suites in the Bellagio and wine them and dine them like they were kings. And that was enough compensation. This now has created this crop of celebrities that don't have any other careers. The only career they have is hosting parties. It is truly pathetic. Have we been party to it? Yes, in some cases, but very, very minor. Look at New Year's Eve at Jet two years ago. We looked around and there was Paris Hilton and this person and that person. And I said, "You know, if we are going to pay, I want a performance." So, we went out and got Kid Rock. And I could stomach that because people would actually see an entertainer. But then this year we didn't do it. We looked at the money and it didn't make sense to us. And we did not do it at the Bank either.

Look, I can stomach making a donation to charity and a true celebrity wants that. But if you call up these big celebrities like Tobey Maguire or Leonardo DiCaprio and offer them $50,000 to show up, they will be insulted. They go where they want to go. Then you have the Paris Hiltons of the world who really don't have any career. They just don't have anything. They were created by the media. They are clouds of nothing. They are almost cartoon characters. And their prime income is going to nightclub parties and getting paid for it.

I think it is going to stop. It has to stop. People are pretty intelligent. It is ridiculous. They are going to get over being crowded with thousands of others to watch one of these girls jump up and down, and the media will get over it too.

Nightclub culture has changed. There used to be a mystique to it. Now, any person can buy their way in, and that has cost nightclub culture a lot of flavor. I think things will come back more to how they were. We are at an extreme. Things hit an extreme and then they come back.

From-http://vegasblog.latimes.com/vegas/paris_hilton/