TALK OF THE TOWN: A five star furore! Andre Balazs is being sued by co-owners of The Mercer hotel in New York who want to boot him out and stop him from calling himself its ‘owner’
He may be London’s party king, but Andre Balazs has little to celebrate at the moment
He may be London‘s party king, but Andre Balazs has little to celebrate at the moment.
Not only is the hotelier exasperated by the continued Covid-enforced closure of his Marylebone hotspot The Chiltern Firehouse, but he’s facing merry hell over in the States, too.
Andre owns a 35 per cent stake in The Mercer hotel in New York, but he is being sued by his co-owners who want to boot him out and stop him from calling himself its ‘owner’.
The partners accuse Balazs of ‘gross negligence, bad faith and intentional misconduct, self-dealing, breach of contract’, claiming that the suave proprietor, who once dated Hollywood actress Uma Thurman, wasted money on ‘pet projects’ and allowed his celebrity friends to stay at the hotel for free at a cost of £1 million.
The lawsuit also alleges that negative press surrounding the Chateau Marmont hotel he owns in Los Angeles has been ‘incredibly harmful’ to The Mercer.
Last year, Balazs was accused of fostering a ‘toxic’ work environment there, and got tangled up in the #MeToo movement.
Employees have also complained he treated them badly during the Covid crisis. Balazs has yet to file his defence.
The hotelier has been exasperated by the continued Covid-enforced closure of his Marylebone hotspot The Chiltern Firehouse
She’s one of the more eco-conscious young Royals, but Lady Amelia Windsor may be taking her green credentials a step too far.
Last week, the 25-year-old, left, announced a partnership with designer Alexander Clementine, – to produce underwear made of pulp and seaweed.
Let’s hope she doesn’t get caught in the rain in one of their £36 bralets, which claim to be ‘super kind’ to skin.
Amelia also showed her support for international ‘Weed Day’ last week, sharing a post that read: ‘Our relationship with cannabis goes way back to early civilisations.’
I wonder what her grandfather, the Duke of Kent, would say!
Posh food blogger Tess Ward, far left with Lady Amelia, justified her decision to eat a giant steak last week by saying the cow had died of ‘natural’ causes
Meanwhile, posh food blogger Tess Ward justified her decision to eat a giant steak last week by saying the cow had died of ‘natural’ causes.
Tess, an ex of Harry Styles, lives on her banker boyfriend’s 2,000-acre family farm in Berlin, which specialises in ‘regenerative agriculture’ – and eats only animals who have died from illness and haven’t been treated by medicine.
‘This cow lived a beautiful life, got a minor infection on her udders and we don’t do chemicals, so… her life ended as it began, on the pasture.’
Yes, Tess, and then it ended up on your plate!