Velshi Banned Book Club: ‘Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Billy Crystal on His Late Manager, David Steinberg: 'He Was One of a Kind'
If an experienced writer of obituaries would write the story of David Steinberg's life and career, it would be impossible for him to capture the total portrait of one of the most unique people I have ever known. If this feels like a speech at a memorial, chances are you won't be there, so here goes. For 48 years, this hilarious, outrageous (and pardon me, David), sensitive man who never wore socks was my manager, confidant, friend and ultimately family member. More from The Hollywood Reporter Edgar Wright, Guy Pearce, Keith Richards, Gale Anne Hurd, Stephen Elliott Pay Tribute to "Truly Iconic" Terence Stamp: "The Most Mesmerizing Eyes" Joe Caroff, Designer of the James Bond 007 Logo, Dies at 103 Terence Stamp, Brooding Legend of British Cinema, Dies at 87 David came to L.A. from Milwaukee, where he was born in 1943. After an academic career second to everyone and with his natural sense of humor, big personality and ability to bullshit with the best of them, he began a successful career in public relations. He would represent Peter Sellers, Sammy Davis Jr. and many others before I hired him to do my publicity when I started on Soap back in 1977. After getting to know my managers, who were considered the gold standard for comedy management — Jack Rollins, Charlie Joffe, Buddy Morra and Larry Brezner, whom I had signed with back in 1974 — he was asked to join the firm and leave behind the PR world. He was a natural fit and soon was sharing the workload for not only my career but also for my great friend Robin Williams. He was so sharp and quick. When I started to play around with an imitation of Fernando Lamas, I would call David in his office as Fernando and we'd have a conversation about Esther Williams and everyone else in show business. This is where 'You Look Mahvelous' started, and it ultimately became a popular character and catch phrase when I was on SNL in 1984-85. When Buddy retired and Larry focused solely on producing films, David protected Robin and me like one of those dogs in The Omen. His great sense of humor had us on an equal playing field at times. He would go on the road with us, watching our shows, taking notes, writing jokes (without our asking most times), but he was essential to our well-being on and off the stage. We'd overlook it when he'd have eaten the food in our dressing rooms before we arrived, and then not complain when he cleared a table of the plates, glasses and silverware before we were done eating the few scraps that were left. In 1989, he traveled to Moscow with me when I became the first American comedian to perform in the then Soviet Union for HBO's Midnight Train to Moscow. He had to deal with the KGB every day and constantly negotiated with the Russian liaisons who didn't live up to the things we had agreed to. Sound familiar? We were shooting a night scene in front of the Kremlin and the lights that we had paid for to be on, weren't. I saw David talking with a scary looking man, and suddenly the lights came on. I asked him what did he say to the man? He replied, 'I asked what would it take to turn them on? And he told me, so I gave him $500 and a dual cassette boom box.' We had to bring a food truck from England to the USSR stocked with a cook and good food for two weeks as the Chernobyl disaster had tainted much of the food supply, and the disappearance of the horse population made us wary of the New York Strip. So there was David, in the truck making spaghetti sauce and pasta for our Russian crew, who looked at David with amazement while he was feeding them food they had never seen before. We visited Lenin's tomb together, and with a stern Russian security guard watching us, he whispered loud enough for him to hear, 'His foot moved.' We were encouraged to make a hasty exit. He made trips to Afghanistan and Iraq with Robin to entertain the troops, frightened by the dangerous landing approach and takeoffs the plane had to make but joyous in the reaction of the troops to Robin. He didn't just watch, he also had many a great conversation with the soldiers himself. He put together the writing staffs for all nine of my Oscar hosting appearances and was in the wings with me and Bruce Vilanch and Robert Wuhl and later the great Jon Macks to monitor the show and hopefully come up with new lines if the opportunity presented itself. He, Bruce and Robert were with me in 1992 when Jack Palance did the one-armed pushups and we abandoned our plans and came up with jokes the rest of the evening. That team, David included, earned an Emmy for that show. We toured the States and Australia together twice, once with 700 Sundays, my Broadway show, and the other a 35-city concert performance tour. No job was too small, no job too big. It was David who delivered good news, and it was David who had to tell me that Robin and Larry Brezner, people we both loved, had passed away. He was one of a kind. As Whoopi Goldberg said about David, 'There was nobody more pointed, more funny and more loving than David. Through all my years watching Billy and Robin and David interact at Comic Relief, I recognized what he meant to their careers and more importantly, to them personally.' For Janice and I, he was a trusted relative. To my daughters, he was a beloved uncle. His talents were enviable to our fellow artists. No manager had the 'chops' that Steinberg had. Today there are management firms with big staffs and divisions for personal appearances, books, movies, social media, etc. David, to his last days, was a one-man band. He learned every day how to keep up with the new demands of the business even though he never quite mastered how to use his cell phone. He was joyous and proud when good things happened. He was caring and soothing and honest when things went the wrong way, and like a manager yelling at an umpire who didn't get the call right, he'd know how much arguing and cursing he could get away with before he would get tossed. He represented the great Bette Midler, who said, 'I adored him. He was wry, cynical and hilarious, yet pretty much a gentleman, all things considered. I looked forward to every meeting because I knew I was going to laugh my head off, although he was a terrific hand holder, too. He'd seen it all, at least twice, and was completely unfazed by anything that the business threw at him. The end of an era.' Bette summed it up so perfectly. My 'OG' managers, Jack Rollins, Charlie Joffe, Buddy Morra and Larry Brezner, are all gone, and now David is, too. They represented an era in comedy, from Woody Allen to Nichols & May, Dick Cavett, Tom Poston, Robert Klein, Martin Mull, Paula Poundstone, Martin Short, David Letterman, Robin and myself, and now for me there is a black hole, a space that will never be filled. He died after a long and difficult negotiation with cancer early Saturday morning. If I was able to tell him it was also the day Babe Ruth passed away, I know he'd say, 'So I get second billing?' He had a beautiful family. His wife, Brynn Thayer, is a fine actress and now a playwright, strong and hilarious herself, she was the perfect match for his personality and sometimes inappropriate jokes. She fought endlessly for him as his health declined, and her love for him was unparalleled. His son Mason, now a terrific comedy writer and producer, learned from his dad the art of writing a joke with a purpose, and I'm sure that kind of warm irreverence will be passed down to his son, Owen, David's only grandchild whom he loved more than he could ever say. His sister, Sari, and his goddaughter, Molly, were also great loves of his life. There are countless stories and anecdotes I could choose from to end this, but I decided to paraphrase what the great writer John O'Hara said about his friend George Gershwin upon his passing. 'George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to.' David Steinberg, my manager my friend, died on Aug. 16, 2025, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to.' Reader, I'm sorry if you never got to meet him or know him, and to those of you who did … well, all you can say is this really stinks. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jack White slams Trump's ‘vulgar' Oval Office transformation after Zelensky meeting
Grammy-winning artist Jack White took aim at President Donald Trump's White House redecoration efforts on Monday after the leader's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The former White Stripes frontman, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump's, shared a photo of the two politicians sitting in the Oval Office, surrounded by gold ornaments. 'Look at how disgusting trump has transformed the historic White House,' he began. 'It's now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler's dressing room. Can't wait for the UFC match on the front lawn too, he's almost fully achieved the movie 'Idiocracy.' Trump last month announced his plans for a UFC fight at the White House to celebrate 250 years of American independence. White, who previously labeled Trump an 'obvious fascist' and a 'wannabe dictator' after he won the 2024 election, continued: 'Look at his disgusting taste, would you even buy a used car from this conman, let alone give him the nuclear codes? 'A gold plated Trump bible would look perfect up on that mantle with a pair of Trump shoes on either side wouldn't it? What an embarrassment to American history.' The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. White, meanwhile, heaped praise on Zelensky, concluding his post with the comment: 'Also pictured in this photograph, a REAL leader of a nation in a black suit.' Trump quickly had the Oval Office redecorated after his inauguration in January, switching the pictures, busts, and ornaments around and introducing as much gold as possible. As CNN noted earlier this year: 'There is gold everywhere: new gold vermeil figurines on the mantle and medallions on the fireplace, gold eagles on the side tables, gilded Rococo mirrors on the doors, and, nestled in the pediments above the doorways, diminutive gold cherubs shipped in from Mar-a-Lago.' Trump also tripled the number of pictures of his predecessors on the walls, adding portraits of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan, amongst others. He further reinstated his signature Diet Coke button on the Resolute Desk and a bust of Sir Winston Churchill last seen during his first term. White's criticism comes after Trump hosted the Ukrainian president and several European leaders at the White House on Monday to advance peace efforts aimed at ending the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Inside Opus One, Where Chef-Driven Pairings Meet Iconic Napa Wine
Opus One Winery has always carried a certain gravity in Napa Valley. The estate's Bordeaux-style blend put Oakville on the map as a global benchmark, and decades later its reputation still draws collectors and first-time visitors alike. From the start, it was a collaboration between France and California, born in 1978 from the vision of Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi. That balance between Old World and New still defines the estate today, not only in the cellar but now in the kitchen. Chef Sean Koenig, who cut his teeth at The French Laundry and Atelier Crenn before joining Opus One, approaches pairing not as ornamentation but as dialogue. His job is not to compete with the wine. It is to reveal something in it you might not otherwise notice. 'Our philosophy as a culinary team is to celebrate the distinct qualities of our wine in restrained yet unexpected ways,' Koenig says. 'Pairing food with wine leads to an added dimension not just to the wine but to the overall experience for our guests. Taking a dish and creating harmony with a glass of Opus One creates a memorable framework for highlighting and accentuating our wine.' Seasonality shapes that framework. Koenig avoids the cliché of steak alongside cabernet. Instead, he draws from the estate's two gardens, which provide vegetables, herbs, fruits, and edible flowers while also creating biodiversity and supporting pollinators. 'We pride ourselves on going beyond more classic boundaries of 'meat and potatoes' style pairings,' he says, 'and encouraging our guests to try unique and sometimes unexpected ingredients paired with our wines to encourage questions, discussion, and curiosity.' One dish he points to often is pâté en croûte. 'It is a very classic French dish rooted in tradition and techniques passed on through multiple generations and one we honor past traditions but through the lens of contemporary Northern California cuisine,' Koenig says. The winery's version layers in quail from Devil's Gulch, chicken from Fogline in Pescadero, and pork raised by Future Farmers of America participants at the Napa County Fair. The result is a French classic reframed through California terroir, echoing the Franco-American partnership that birthed Opus One itself. Each vintage demands its own approach. Some years call for harmonizing, others for contrast. 'Our process of pairing different vintages is quite intuitive,' Koenig explains. 'We taste the wines and select specific aspects of that particular wine we either want to highlight and enhance, to harmonize a unique flavor profile between the food and the wine, or to encourage our guests to think differently about how food can pair with wine in general.' That philosophy runs through the estate's offerings for visitors. The Estate Tasting at $125 is a focused introduction that moves from a rocky outcrop garden to a sleek tasting room, pouring two vintages of Opus One alongside Overture before finishing on the rooftop terrace with sweeping views of Oakville. The Opus One Experience at $200 brings guests into the Partners' Room, a private, art-filled space overlooking vineyard rows, where an Estate Ambassador leads a guided tasting of current and library vintages paired with small seasonal bites. For those seeking full immersion, the Art of the Table at $650 is offered only on select days. It is a two-and-a-half-hour, four-course lunch crafted by Koenig and his team, staged with the precision of fine dining but the intimacy of a salon dinner, a chance to see how the kitchen and cellar move in lockstep. Opus One Winery's commitment extends beyond wine and food. The estate is Napa Green-certified for both its vineyards and winery, with sustainability practices embedded into daily operations. The same care that shapes the wines and the gardens also drives broader goals of stewardship, tying luxury to responsibility in a way that feels distinctly Napa Valley today. Luxury in Napa can be loud. Opus One's version is quieter, built on restraint. The wines still set the tone, but the food now carries the conversation further, proving that a glass and a plate, when tuned to each other, can still feel like the rarest kind of art.
