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Tonya Harding
Two limo companies say the former figure skater didn't pay for services
| Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal COLUMN: Norm! Limo companies' brush with disgraced skater leaves bad taste
Editor's note: Norm Clarke returns from medical leave on May 26. He filed a special column for today. Local celebrities will continue to pinch hit with guest columns. Disgraced Olympic skater Tonya Harding didn't score any points with two local limo companies. Harding, through her manager, reserved two limos last Friday and didn't pay for either. At least two limo operators were contacted separately on Friday by a woman who claimed to be representing a "very high-profile entertainer." Sources said the woman identified herself as Linda Lewis, who is Harding's manager, and offered to make partial payment on her credit card. One limo owner we contacted, Robert Romano of VIP Transportation, verified that he was called by Lewis. Romano was to send a Ford Excursion stretch limo to McCarran International Airport to pick up the mystery celebrity and her boyfriend. However, before he could dispatch the Excursion, the driver had a family crisis and couldn't make it. Romano called a friend who also owns a limo company and he agreed to send a driver in a Cadillac Escalade for the pickup. After making contact with Harding at the airport, "She complained that the Escalade was filthy. It had just come from a detail shop," Romano said. Harding claimed she found an empty beer can in the car and complained that the limo wasn't stocked with alcohol. She asked to be driven to a liquor store but grew upset when the limo driver said he didn't have money to purchase the alcohol. Romano said he wrote off the airport ride as a loss and paid the other limo company himself. "It's my opinion she was complaining so she could get everything free." Harding asked the other limo company to arrive at the Luxor at 10 p.m., but the ice skater never showed after a two-hour wait. According to the second limo owner, who asked not to be identified, Lewis said, "Should Tonya even have to pay for the wait? This is Tonya Harding you know!" Lewis, reached Monday in Vancouver, Wash., confirmed Harding was in Las Vegas but said she would not discuss the limo issues. "I told them to bill it to me. There's nothing to it." Bobbitt saga continues The John Wayne Bobbitt-Joey Buttafucco celebrity boxing match fell apart over the weekend. Bobbitt, who lives in Las Vegas, and Buttafucco were to be taped Saturday in Los Angeles but the deal unraveled over finances and some other crazy stuff. Meanwhile, it sounds like the honeymoon is over between Bobbitt and his bride of two months, Joanna. According to the New York Post, Joanna spent five days in jail in Las Vegas for unpaid parking tickets, and she told the newspaper Bobbitt declined to pay the $1,800 that would have kept her out of the cooler. The Scene and Heard Las Vegan Jimmy Kimmel, who teams with Adam Carolla on Comedy Central's "The Man Show," is in talks with ABC to host a show that would replace the struggling Bill Maher-helmed "Politically Incorrect," according to the Los Angeles Times. ... A word on my prostate cancer recovery: I celebrated my progress with an Italian feast and tap-water toasts at La Scala on Saturday, only to end up back in ER that night when more complications arose. But I'm optimistic that we'll be turning the corner soon. The supportive calls, letters, food and professional care have been truly appreciated. One more chocolate chip cookie and I'll be entering a fat farm. Sightings Country western duo Brooks and Dunn, hanging with ZZ Top at AJ's Steakhouse (Hard Rock Hotel) until 3 a.m. Saturday. ... George Clooney, drawing a crowd of gawkers at Whiskey Sky (Green Valley Ranch) on Friday night. He's confirmed to attend Saturday's grand opening party of Whiskey Beach, the pool area outside Whiskey Sky. ... At "O" (Bellagio) on Saturday: funnyman Martin Lawrence and family; Denzel Washington and family as well as Brooke Shields, who stayed to meet the cast and crew. ... Actor Vince Vaughn, partying till sunrise Friday at the V Bar (The Venetian). The Punch Line "You know you're getting old when all the names in your black book have M.D. after them." -- Golf great Arnold Palmer. Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can reach him at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
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