Friday, March 29, 2024

Will Bono, DiCaprio, Pitt Attend Cannes amFAR This Year? Still No Report from Last Year, Org Shows $8 Mil Drop in Revenue 2016-17

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Last year’s amFAR in Cannes gala was a disaster. The organization still has not reported how much money it made or lost from their auction and ticket sales. It was the first time ever that they didn’t trumpet the information immediately during or after the glittery evening at the Hotel duCap.

A source says, mockingly: “They’re still counting.”

This year, amFAR — which has lost its Hollywood appeal in the last couple of years — will count on Bono, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio — to come through for them. The premiere for their movie, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” is two days before the amFAR dinner. amFAR also counts on no one asking questions, no one asking for a clear picture of what’s going on.

Ironically. amFAR still associates with odd people. Their so called global head of fundraising is still the very shady Milutin Gatsby (a made up name). DiCaprio, who has his own non-transparent foundation, got rid of Gatsby very quietly a few years ago.

The most recent financial filings available for amFAR are for 2016-17. On their Federal Form 990, amFAR reveals they were down $8 million in revenue from the previous year. Yet, salaries were up. CEO Kevin Frost pulled in almost $700,000 in salary and benefits that year. amFAR listed $6 million for salaries in 2016-2017, divided among a handful of executives.

The Cannes event is expensive to produce. It costs amFAR upwards of $5 million in direct expenses. In 2016, they paid the Hotel duCap almost $1 million to rent the place, $300K for food and beverages, another miscellaneous $3 million, and $3.7 million for entertainment that included performances by Katy Perry, The Village People, Sister Sledge, and The Bluebell Girls, and a fashion show curated by former Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld.

Maybe Bono et al will ask to see the financial records from last year. The event was sponsored by Moncler, Chopard, and Kiehl’s. You’d think they’d be interested about the finances from that night, too. On the amFAR website, the report for the 2018 gala is the only one that doesn’t say how much money was earned.

“They’ll still counting.”

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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