It’s take deux for Warner Bros. in Cannes — as the studio’s bash goes from Zas to “Mad Max.”
Last year the historic studio was slammed as “sad” and “ridiculous” after boss David Zaslav reportedly ignored his advisors’ pleas to abandon a glitzy bash he planned to host with Graydon Carter’s Air Mail at the Cannes Film Festival the start of a Hollywood strike.
Now hears that Zaslav’s taking a well-timed night off this time around — and his studio boss underlings will be stepping up to host the bash this year with Air Mail.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav got flack around town for hosting the epic, opulent star-studded affair in Cannes last spring — at the same time the WGA strike raged back home. But the media giant and Carter’s erudite publication are teaming again on a Hôtel du Cap fete, we hear.
It’s not clear if Zaslav will even be able to fit the bash into his busy schedule.
Last May stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson and Robert De Niro attended Zaslav and Carter’s lavish party, which celebrated 100 years of Warner Bros. and coincided with the rebranding of the studio’s streaming service, HBO Max, as just plain Max.
The event was considered Cannes’ hottest ticket, even overshadowing a party by Carter’s former mag, Vanity Fair that was soaked by rain.
reported at the time that Carter was still “Cannes king,” and “Zaslav was seen mingling with the crowd, occasionally dancing and looking like he was having a blast.”
But as the champagne wore off in the cold light of day, the New York Times Magazine reported in a November profile, “How David Zaslav Blew Up Hollywood,” that Zaslav’s top comms officer at the time “strongly urged him to cancel” the fancy fete to avoid any awful optics of suits celebrating as writers picketed back home, and SAG-AFTRA struck soon after.
The Times piece said Zaslav “plowed ahead”…
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