Have Britney Spears and Sam Asghari wed? (Probably not!)
It’s a grab bag of goodies while I’m on the road to Los Angeles: Congratulations to all the first-day employees and retailers still working today at The Forum Shops of Caesars Palace because they are all celebrating their 25th anniversary today. It was exactly today in 1992 that the shopping center with those incredible curved escalators opened here on the Strip.
RAMPANT RUMORS
Marriage rumors are running rampant in the tabloid press that our Axis at Planet Hollywood pop princess Britney Spears has tied the knot in a secret wedding in Hawaii with fitness model Sam Asghari. But Britney’s team denies it strongly. However, the more they say it’s untrue, the more the rumors grow!
SPICE GIRLS REUNION?
Now that Spice Girl Mel B has split from husband Stephen Belafonte, insiders are saying it will allow former bandmates Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton to reunite with Mel. They reportedly resented his controlling ways but now say, “In the near future, not immediately, we’ll reform.”
Insiders are saying that the trio has already been in the recording studio because Posh Spice, aka Victoria Beckham, aka Mrs. David Beckham, says that she doesn’t want their old material regurgitated and insists that they produce new songs.
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT
Tao Nightclub at The Venetian has launched VIWE, a program inspired by Uber and Airbnb designed for the guest who desires VIP bottle service without having to worry about having a big enough group to meet a bottle minimum or breaking the bank when on a budget. Sharing means not only caring but also cost benefits.
Guests can purchase individual tickets to a communal bottle service area comprised of several tables — $50 female/$100 male, plus tax and gratuity — inside the main room of the nightclub. For a fraction of traditional bottle service, guests can sip vodka, tequila and champagne from featured beverage partners at shared tables at designated areas in the club.
YOUNGEST COWBOY
Eighteen-year-old Koal Livingstone of Texas will be the youngest competitor this weekend in town for “Last Cowboy Standing” at The Helldorado festival on the grounds of Las Vegas Village opposite The Luxor and Mandalay Bay. But first he had to buy a new helmet to ride in safety as his dog ate his old one for breakfast!
UPTOWN NEON
Art from The Neon Museum is coming to the Strip in its first satellite location from Downtown. Signs from yesteryear will rotate in a lineup to be placed on display in the plaza outside the shopping mall opposite Wynn Las Vegas.
First in June will be “Red Barn,” which opened in the late 1950s as an antique store before it evolved into the Strip’s first openly gay bar with drag shows. It closed in 1988, and the iconic martini glass sign was saved for posterity in the museum collection.
ON THE MOVE
The most outrageous, bizarre and risque Halloween party is moving its location again this Oct. 31. The Fetish & Fantasy Ball is uprooting from The Hard Rock Hotel and heading to Red Rock Resort. (A few years back, it had a one-time stint at South Point Arena.)
Organizers of the leave-nothing-to-the-imagination costume party have so far signed legendary Finnish DJ Darude, Germany’s Plastik Funk and DJ Soulman from 311’s tour. They’re expecting 6,000 sexy people at the large and long-running event.
PIA’S WIN
With an assist from her avid basketball fan son Jordan, Las Vegas singer Pia Zadora won the $5,000 grand prize at Westgate’s Hoops Celebrity Challenge. She donated the win to Project FOCUS at UNLV after defeating more than a dozen other celebrities.
MAGIC SHOWROOM
After logging nearly 600 performances of his first-ever Las Vegas residency, “America’s Got Talent”-winning magician Mat Franco, who reinvents magic nightly, now gets his own theater at The Linq Hotel. It’s to be renamed in his honor starting July 10.
STAR SURVEILLANCE
Looks like all the cognoscenti have discovered the new private jet way to commute between our desert kingdom and Los Angeles. On today’s Jet Suite X flight, I ran into Nick Carter of Axis headliners The Backstreet Boys and Tao Group partner Jason Strauss.
On my last trip, it was The Rio magician headliner Penn Jillette. Nick, who has moved here, graciously posed for photos with fellow passengers — and I even did one with my Uber driver.