Rivers’ doctor, under scrutiny, had worked on Dion
The doctor under scrutiny in the death of Joan Rivers is seen performing a vocal cord procedure on Celine Dion in the singer’s 2010 documentary.
Dr. Gwen Korovin, known as the throat doctor of the stars, was checking Dion’s strained vocal cords — a procedure called a laryngoscopy to view the vocal cords — in the documentary, “Through the Eyes of the World.”
TMZ.com reported the development this week.
According to a CNN report Friday, Korovin, Rivers’ personal throat doctor, was performing a laryngoscopy on Rivers on Aug. 28 when her heart stopped. Rivers, 81, died a week later.
Korovin was reportedly not certified to perform medical services on Rivers.
CNN reported investigators found Korovin took a selfie of herself with Rivers while Rivers was unconscious.
Korovin’s clients include Lady Gaga, Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, John Mayer, Hugh Jackman, Julie Andrews and Brooke Shields.
Korovin was quoted in a 2013 article in WAG mag, “I am thrilled when they say nice things about me to the public, like Celine Dion thanking me as she received her Grammy for ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ the ‘Titanic’ theme song.”
STAR CHEF REUNION
Pulses raced last week at the sight of Spain’s superchefs Ferran Adria and former pupil Jose Andres under the same roof in Las Vegas.
It was beer that brought them together this time. Adria was in town to promote Barcelona-brewed Estrella Damm Inedit and check out Andres’ Bazaar Meat restaurant at newly opened SLS Las Vegas.
Adria, 52, and Andres, 45, go back to the beginning of Adria’s El Bulli restaurant.
They were the best of friends in those early years, and then one night in December 1990, after a heated argument in a Barcelona restaurant, the friendship was over.
Within a week, Andres, 21, packed up and headed for the United States, hoping it would be his path to redemption.
When I asked Adria about their early relationship, he said through an interpreter, “It’s not the years he worked with me; it’s the relationship we had afterwards.”
The blowup was over a misunderstanding, Andres told Newsweek three years ago.
Adria had asked him to meet him at 7 p.m.
“I showed up and he wasn’t there,” Andre wrote in his first-person account with Newsweek.
“These were the days before mobile phones, so after about half an hour, I left to go find a pay phone to call him. When I got back, there he was, irate. This is a man who likes to be on time, and he thought I disrespected him.
“He yelled at me for a long time and accused me of lying to him, then told me he didn’t want me there anymore.”
He remembers standing in a rainstorm, soaking in the harsh reality of what had just happened.
“I’m out of a job at a place I thought I would spend my entire career.”
Before the split, “I had never thought about trying to be a chef in America, but I thought now was the right time, and I didn’t have any other choices.”
He added, “There are those occasional moments in life where something happens that feels like the end of your life and career. But it started something entirely new for me. It pushed me onto a different path that was even bigger.”
Seven years later, Andres returned to El Bulli to patch things up with his friend.
“I walked in and we just gave each other one of those Spanish hugs when you put your hand behind the other guy’s neck. Now we’re best friends. We consult each other on recipes and menus. We even go on vacation together with our families.”
Things worked out beyond their wildest expectations for both.
Adria, co-owner of El Bulli from 1984 until 2011, became one of the most influential chefs in the world.
El Bulli, a citadel of molecular gastronomy, claimed the world’s best-restaurant title five times between 2002 and 2009 and was No. 2 in 2010.
Andres not only built a fine dining empire in the United States, with restaurants in Washington, D.C.; Beverly Hills, Calif.; Las Vegas; Miami; and Dorado, Puerto Rico, but he’s been honored as the highest level for his philanthropic work.
He was Bon Appetit’s chef of the year in 2004, a James Beard outstanding chef honoree in 2011 and named among the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2012.
“He deserves all the recognition he is getting now,” Adria said last week.
SIGHTINGS
U.S. soccer legend Mia Hamm, dining at La Cave Wine &Food Hideaway on Thursday. ... Ted Lange, who played good-guy bartender Isaac Washington in ABC’s long-running series “The Love Boat,” having dinner with comedian Jeff Wayne at the Railroad Pass Hotel’s Steakhouse restaurant. Lange is directing Wayne in a one-man show titled “Big Daddy’s Barbecue,” on Sunday at the Starbright Theater in Summerlin.
THE PUNCH LINE
“Today, the 50th annual Mr. Olympia contest starts in Las Vegas. Arnold Schwarzenegger won it something like seven times. So just think. Today’s winner might someday ruin the state of California.” — Craig Ferguson
Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more at normclarke.com. Follow @Norm_Clarke on Twitter.
