Source says Wynn looking at security
Reports that billionaire hotel developer Steve Wynn picked up the tab for Prince Harry's stay last week lend credence to scuttlebutt that he's unhappy with his security team.
And that may be putting it mildly.
According to a source, the Prince Harry scandal could get much worse.
"Something pretty gigantic" is involved, the source said, something more serious than "strip billiards" at one of Wynn's properties.
Wynn, who has been vacationing in St-Tropez, reportedly comped all of Prince Harry's expenses, according to London's Daily Mail, including the now infamous suite where a racy game of pool turned into an embarrassing security breach for the royal palace, and something more.
One of the biggest challenges for Wynn security in recent years has come as a result of Wynn's switch to nightclubs, a move he resisted for years.
At the same time of the club shift has come the explosive popularity of social media, with so many more camera phones capturing indiscretions.
That's one of the new nightmarish realities in the local nightlife business, with gaming and liquor licenses at stake.
LIBERACE FILMING
Michael Douglas will be duplicating Liberace's spectacular flying act - suspended by wires a la Peter Pan - during filming this week in Las Vegas.
The scene will be part of a weeklong shoot for the HBO film "Behind the Candelabra," which co-stars Matt Damon as Liberace's young lover, Scott Thorson.
A crowd of about 100 local extras will be on hand when director Steven Soderbergh re-creates the soaring grand exit that left audiences gasping during Liberace's heyday.
Stagehands were setting up the elaborate stunt when I stopped by Friday to check out the LVH (formerly the Hilton) showroom, where Liberace and Elvis reigned during the 1970s.
Dominating the stage was a huge white staircase that curved up several floors from the right. There are rumblings Douglas also has a scene with a knockoff of Liberace's white Llama fur coat with a 16-foot train that sparkled with sequins and rhinestones.
Word has it the outlandish coat was being made out of faux fur so as not to enrage the anti-fur groups.
Filming also will take place in the LVH Sky Villas, formerly Elvis' vast penthouse before it was downsized to three high-roller supersuites.
Thorson wrote the book "Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace" in 1988, shortly after Liberace died of AIDS. This year, Thorson hinted in an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" that he had a close relationship with Michael Jackson and they traveled across Europe together.
PRINCE HARRY WATCH
That was quick. The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority wasted no time in posting its "Stay Calm and Carry on Harry" message at McCarran International Airport. UK tourists were tweeting it Saturday. ...
BBC political editor Louise Stewart tweeted Friday that she received an "incredible" response after posting this quote from London Mayor Boris Johnson in support of Prince Harry: "The real scandal," Johnson said, "would be if you went all the way to Las Vegas and you didn't misbehave in some trivial way."
SIGHTINGS
Spotted at Caesars Palace on Saturday: NBA stars Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and David Coverdale (Whitesnake). Duncan was at Exotics Racing on Friday, taking spins in a Ferrari 458 Italia and a Porsche Turbo. At N9ne Steakhouse (Palms): Hall of Fame slugger Orlando Cepeda, Pierce and Duncan, at separate tables. ... Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, joining Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, and Latina activist Cecilia Munoz at the Nevada "Women Vote 2012 Summit" on Saturday at the Historic Fifth Street School. ... The cast of TLC's new show "Vegas High Rollers," shooting episode segments at the Black and White Party sponsored by Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel's Nirvana pool. ... Seattle Seahawks linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., visiting his father, former world heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton, at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson in recent weeks. The senior Norton has been rehabilitating since suffering a couple of strokes. Also stopping in: boxers Mike Tyson and Earnie Shavers and Gene Kilroy, Muhammad Ali's former business manager. Norton is best known for breaking Ali's jaw in a split decision win in March 1973.
THE PUNCH LINE
"A new report found that full-frontal nudity on prime-time TV has increased 6,000 percent over the last year. Especially on that one sitcom, 'The Fresh Prince Harry.' " - Jimmy Fallon
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
