Accused man was club scene fixture
Arman Izadi, arrested last week on charges related to pimping, was a high-profile VIP on the club scene.
“Extremely high-profile,” a spy said.
Fliers for his 28th birthday party at Surrender nightclub (Encore) on April 17 were sent via a mass email, and a large posterboard featuring Izadi greeted guests that night.
Police booked Izadi on charges ranging from kidnapping and domestic battery to extortion, coercion and prostitution crimes.
One woman told police he tortured her inside his leased penthouse at the Las Vegas Country Club by waterboarding her and scalding her in a shower.
He was voted in a 2012 club industry contest called the Viva Vegas TV Awards as the “Life of the Party” and the “Best Mood Director.” That event was held Nov. 29 at Haze in Aria.
MGM development
Big news involving the north end of the Strip is about to pop. Rumblings include word that a meeting is scheduled this week that has to do with development plans for the large expanse of MGM Resorts-owned land west of the soon-to-be-replaced Sahara Hotel.
A number of parties are involved in the meeting, I’m told, and the business at hand will include other land development around the Sahara, which Sam Nazarian is transforming into an SLS Hotel.
MGM Resorts bought nearly 30 acres of land across from the Sahara in 2007, just before the economy crashed. Whatever plans MGM Resorts had in mind for the north-end land were put on hold as the company focused on its mammoth CityCenter project.
There’s also buzz that Bill McBeath, who resigned in December as president and chief operating officer at CityCenter’s Aria resort, might be joining Steve Wynn.
Marc Schorr recently resigned as Wynn’s longtime lieutenant, one of many recent top executive departures at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
OUCH
Zowie Bowie’s Chris Phillips can take a joke.
Hopefully he won’t need therapy after the ribbing and ripping he took during the inaugural Showbiz Roast on Tuesday at the Stratosphere showroom. It was too raunchy to end up as a TV special, but the bootleg version might become a hot commodity.
Clint Holmes, recently honored with a Bistro Award for top “major engagement” in New York, put his zingers to music. He turned R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” into a parody, changing the lyrics to “He believes he sing. He’s fooling Vegas with a pinkie ring.
“I think about it every night and day, almost makes me want to move away.”
Then he doubled down by tweaking Chicago’s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” Holmes’ version went like this: “Does anybody know who Zowie Bowie is? Does anybody really care? If so I can’t imagine why. Who wants to hear good music die?”
Las Vegas production designer Andy Walmsley, who said he lost about $10,000 in putting together his first show — which was a doozy — vowed there will be more roasts, possibly as soon as July.
“The best thing about the night,” he said, “is that for the rest of my life I can say ‘I produced a show in Vegas with a midget, showgirls and nuns.’ Who can say that?”
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Elaine Wynn was in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, taking in the White House Correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton. She had dinner on Friday with Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry and his family. Henry, who is president of the White House Correpondents’ Association, was married at Wynn Las Vegas in 2010. ...
Tony Hsieh’s flame-belching praying mantis will be firing up Cinco de Mayo crowds during an appearance in front of La Comida, the new restaurant at Fremont and Sixth streets. The Zappos CEO purchased the wild vehicle after it got his attention at the Burning Man festival in Northern Nevada. Hsieh is using it to promote art development and The Downtown Project, his community-building project. ...
We hear former big league slugger Frank Thomas has moved back to Chicago to film a reality show that will feature his Big Hurt Beer.
SIGHTINGS
Paris Hilton, checking out Hakassan, the megaclub at MGM Grand on Saturday. ... The Zac Brown Band, dining at Andrea’s (Encore) on Friday. ... Terry Bradshaw, working out in the gym at The Mirage on Friday. He’s in town to rehearse for his June 28-29 show.
THE PUNCH LINE
“The No. 1 NFL Draft name for 2013 is Barkevious Mingo. It sounds like a character from ‘Game of Thrones.’ ” — Jimmy Kimmel
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or email him at norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke. “Norm Clarke’s Vegas,” airs Thursdays on the “Morning Blend” on KTNV-TV, Channel 13.
