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WORK TITLE: Anyone Who’s Anyone
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1963?
WEBSITE:
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: Jamaican
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born c. 1963, in Kingston, Jamaica.
EDUCATION:Attended the University of Georgia.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Interview, New York, NY, associate editor; Allure, New York, contributing editor; Vanity Fair, New York, journalist, creator of the “GW Q&As” column.
WRITINGS
Creator of the zine R.O.M.E., 1982.
SIDELIGHTS
Originally from Jamaica, George Wayne is a New York City-based writer. In 1982, shortly after settling in the city, he launched a zine called R.O.M.E. The publication attracted attention and helped Wayne break into writing for magazines. He wrote for Interview, Allure, and Vanity Fair. At the latter, he created a popular column called “GW Q&As,” for which he conducted freewheeling interviews with celebrities.
In 2017, Wayne released a book featuring thirty years of celebrities interviews. The volume is called Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017. Among the subjects of the interviews in the book are Donatella Versace, Joan Rivers, Marc Jacobs, Martha Stewart, Barry White, and Kate Moss.
In an interview with Sam Eichner, writer on the Urbandaddy website, Wayne explained that publishing this book marked the achievement of a lifelong goal of his. He stated: “It was something I’ve always wanted to do since the very first day I moved to New York City, circa ’85-’86—to be an author. This is the sort of the book that I know will draw on the pantheon of what I call New York City Pop Literature—or ‘poperature.’ Other examples would be The Andy Warhol Diaries, Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney and Social Studies by Fran Lebowitz.” Wayne told Lesley Abravanel, contributor to the Miami.com website: “I have had the true distinction of being granted the opportunity to interview some of the most extraordinary personalities this planet has ever seen. And that is not mere hyperbole. … I have interviewed more than a smattering of famous and fascinating folk. Those featured in this book are a thorough and interesting mix.” Wayne added: “This book delivers classic reality. It’s real moments with real people. From dead legends such as Carrie Fisher to living legends like Kate Moss. These are interviews with history!” Wayne also told Abravanel: “Having a book now part of the United States Library of Congress is a dream come true for this ink-stained wretch born and bred on the island of Jamaica.”
Michael Ruzicka, reviewer in Booklist, described Anyone Who’s Anyone as “a fun romp through celebrity culture.” “At times fascinating, the interviews offer a casual, unguarded look at some of the most high-profile personalities of the past thirty years,” commented a Kirkus Reviews critic. A writer on the New York Daily News Online remarked: “So tightly condensed are GW’s lavish cajoleries and prodding condescension that the read can feel a bit like drinking chardonnay from a fire hose.” The writer concluded: “Keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2017, Michael Ruzicka, review of Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017, p. 8.
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2017, review of Anyone Who’s Anyone.
ONLINE
Fashion Edits, https://www.fashionedits.com/ (March 15, 2018), Walter Greene, author interview.
Miami.com, http://www.miami.com/ (November 22, 2017), Lesley Abravanel, author interview.
New York Daily News Online, http://www.nydailynews.com/ (December 19, 2017), review of Anyone Who’s Anyone.
Urbandaddy, https://www.urbandaddy.com/ (December 5, 2017), Sam Eichner, author interview.
Vanity Fair Online, https://www.vanityfair.com/ (November 30, 2017), author interview.
V Online, https://vmagazine.com/ (February 8, 2018), Nadja Sayej, author interview.
GEORGE WAYNE was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He is a New York–based writer of twenty-six years who currently resides in Greenwich Village. His beat is celebrity culture and the whirl of fashion, music, and style. George conceived and launched his own avant-garde ’zine, R.O.M.E., in 1982, and his career took off. He began as an associate editor at Interview magazine and later became the first contributing editor on the masthead of Allure. But his rise to recognition is attributed to his “GW Q&As,” which became a signature must-read of Vanity Fair, appearing regularly for twenty-two years.
March 15, 2018 · by Walter Greene · in From the blog, Homepage, Industry news
ONE ON ONE WITH WRITER GEORGE WAYNE
George Wayne who is known for his bold, notorious, `hold-no-bars’ approach to interviewing celebrities, is enjoying the launch of his first book `Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews – 1987-2017.’ (Harper Collins). His “GW Q&As” in Vanity Fair, where he interviewed everyone from Joan Rivers to Martha Stewart, became a signature must-read for over 22 years. His work in Allure, Interview, The Daily Front Row and his creation of R.O.M.E. is well documented. George combined some of his favorite interviews for this outrageously funny, and, nostalgic book.
Fashionedits.com turned the tables and got up close and personal with this journalistic expert of celebrity style, fashion, music, and gossip, ending with a `Rapid Fire’ session – Listen in:
WALTER GREENE: You’ve been chronicling Pop Culture for over 20 years. Was this book your ultimate dream?
GEORGE WAYNE: Tis true, GW has been the astute arbiter of our popular culture for decades and counting. And of course, it is any writers dreams to have a book published.
WG: Why did it take so long?
GW: As with any grand project there are moments when you feel the world is against you and I would never get this book published. The process seemed like an eternity mostly because I had to deal with bulldog lawyers from not only Conde Nast but also from the publisher Harper Collins. I had to get permission from each and every person in this book, and that took forever! But as the adage goes: `we serve no wine before it’s time.’ And, honey bunny, GW has served up the best vintage with this well received and much-acclaimed book! So, if you have not already – time is now to get on Amazon.com and order this book.
WG: Were these your favorite interviews?
GW: I was happy to have many of my favorite interviews included in this book. Some of the classic GW Hall of Fame Classic Moments with the likes of Carrie Fisher and Joan Rivers and Kate Moss and Donatella Versace are some of my favorites that made it into this compendium. Of course, there were some celebrities who ran the other way when I approached to have them in the book. Mark Wahlberg (I will never forgive him) for not wanting to be in this book. And 50 Cent and Arianna Huffington and Jon Bon Jovi also demurred being part of this legacy. But, I know why they said no. Those stories will be told, at some other point in time.
WG: Your introductions were a combination of information, hilarious situations, smart and poignant.
GW: The introductions are incredibly poignant and special, and, another reason why the book took so long to write because I had to go scour all of my archives and find all my notes and diaries from over 30 years to make sure I had all the facts and dates correct. That was the greatest thrill. Because ever since I moved to Manhattan on a one-way ticket from Atlanta, Georgia after college at the University of Georgia, I have made sure to jot and document everything! All those noted and archival data were so very integral to the completion of this book. I write down everything. My tiny apartment in the West Village is nothing but a bed and filing cabinets everywhere containing all my valued archives. Magazines, filing cabinets filled with notebooks and photographs and a bed and a desk. This is my humble hovel! “Lilliput!” Hahahaaaa.
WG: What is your favorite story in the book?
GW: SO many great anecdotes in the book, but, lately I’ve been feeling wistful and nostalgic, and, being also incredibly grateful that I have that amazing interview and moment with Donatella Versace in this book. I have been watching that FY show; `The Assassination of Gianni Versace and it’s been so hard to watch – so hard. It has brought back a flood of memories of my time being lucky enough to spend the most unforgettable lunches and dinner parties at Casa Casuarina on Ocean Drive at that Versace Villa. Gianni was the most generous, most amazing man. You know this fashion business is full of the most ghastly, asshole people who are so full of themselves. Gianni Versace was nothing like that. Such an incredible man and Gianni was the biggest gossip! He loved regaling an audience over lunch with the funniest gossip about Princess Diana and Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld…he was just amazing. I have been shedding a lot of tears of late. I hate to admit that I have been watching this FX TV show on his murder, but I have. It’s like rubbernecking a bad car accident – You hate to look, but at the same time you just can’t look away.
WG: OK- let’s talk about some lighter stuff – It’s time for our `Rapid Fire’ line of questions – Favorite New York Fashion Week hangout?
GW: My favorite New York Fashion Week hangout is unquestionable, the iconic Pier 59 Studios, where I am privileged to be able to call my office. It’s where GW spends his days writing and taking in all the fashion whirl popping around him. Today, for instance, I’m checking out the supermodel Karlie Kloss as she swans out of the vast Studio C on set while shooting the next fashion campaign for Swarovski. And, is that the fashion designer Jason Wu swing by on his way to his own studio shoot? Yes, it most certainly is my home away from home.
WG: What’s your guilty pleasure?
GW: My favorite guilty pleasure is the oxtail and rice & peas from one of my favorite restaurants – Negril Village. That, and the fact that I love champagne way too much!
WG: What trait do you least like about yourself…and what do you like most about yourself?
GW: What I least like about myself is that some days I do not want to leave my bed. I love to sleep. I love my beauty rest. I hate being out of bed.
WG: Which celebrity who has been deceased would you have liked to interview, and what would you ask him or her?
GW: One dead celebrity I wish I had interviewed was designer Coco Chanel, and, I would love to have asked her about her love affair with the gorgeous Nazi she supposedly not only had an affair with but also spied for. Were you a Nazi sympathizer Coco Chanel? That would have certainly been one of my first questions to her.
WG: Which Television host/hostess do you most admire? What do you think of Meghan McCain on The View?
GW: I love Wendy Williams. She’s done very well for herself. GW is not a fan of any of the Meghan’s – Mc Cain or Kelly.
WG: Who is your favorite fashion model and why?
GW: My favorite model is unquestionably the latest fashion superstar Kaia Gerber! I am so happy and so proud of my friends Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber and this beautiful girl they have gifted the world who will undoubtedly be the post-millennial supermodel for years to come.
WG: You have fun doing your interviews. Has this always been a conscious effort?
GW: I love my job. Of course, I love doing interviews. I would like to think that George Wayne is the modern master of celebrity Q&A. I have remastered, reinvented and refined the art form of the celebrity Q&A. I have no equal.
WG: What’s next for GW?
GW: What’s next on the agenda you ask? Well – I have just been approached by a legendary Television production house in Los Angeles, who want to create a documentary TV show revolving around GW. So far, that initial contractual conversation and such has begun. I am also well into working on my first novel and my third book which will be my roman-a-clef FRICTION. I have not sold that to a publishing house yet but I hope to have great news on that front by spring.
Celebrity Q&A Veteran George Wayne Explains the Difference Between the “Arianna Rule” and the “Bon Jovi Rule”
The longtime V.F. contributor reflects on a career spent subjecting skittish luminaries to no-holds-barred interrogations, the results of which are collected in a new book.
by GEORGE WAYNE
NOVEMBER 30, 2017 2:36 PM
By Corey Miller (Wayne).
For 22 years, George Wayne’s Q&A’s with the world’s most quotable characters were an irreverent, uproarious, and frequently indecent staple of Vanity Fair’s Vanities section. As Wayne—known to all, including himself, as G.W.—prepares to publish a trove of his archival interviews from V.F., Interview, and elsewhere in the new book Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987–2017 (HarperCollins), we asked him to confront the most challenging subject of all: himself.
George Wayne Questioner: What did you think of the foreword that G.C. wrote for your book, G.W.?
George Wayne Answerer: For weeks after Graydon [Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair] submitted the foreword to my editor at HarperCollins, I was too scared to read it. So when I finally did look, I was relieved that he captured my resilient, iconoclastic, outsize personality. Or I’d like to think he did!
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You’ve been working on this book forever, haven’t you?
And I never gave up! Between dealing with lawyers and all sorts of other drama over the past three years, I am beyond thrilled that I finally have a book that the all-American icon Calvin Klein himself describes in a blurb as “a timeless pop-cult classic.”
After all, your vitriol, broadsides, and celebrity musings ought to live forever.
And so they will, if this book joins the illustrious pantheon of New York pop-literature classics that already includes Fran Lebowitz’s Social Studies, Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City, and The Andy Warhol Diaries. I call them “pop-erature.” This is the sort of book you’d pluck from the Hudson News bookstore at J.F.K.’s international terminal to enjoy during your first-class Emirates A380 flight to Dubai.
Who were you hoping to include in the book but couldn’t?
I will never forgive Mark Wahlberg for declining to be in this book. But he knows that I know why he said no. Arianna Huffington wasn’t game, either. The first time I interviewed her, in October 1996, we were having lunch at the posh Watergate restaurant Galileo when I asked about her gay husband. She grabbed the tape recorder from the table and dashed for the exits, and I chased her, screaming, “Arianna, give me back my tape!” Outside the restaurant, she plucked the cassette from the machine and said, “Sorry, George, this interview is over.” That’s the day we instituted the “Arianna rule,” where one recorder would be on the desk and the other would be in my top pocket.
Good thinking. Did you name any other rules after naughty celebrities?
Yes, the “Bon Jovi rule.” That came into effect after I interviewed Jon Bon Jovi over the telephone in 1995. He was on the road with his rock band and was clearly in a foul mood. I asked him if he was having a bad hair day. He was not happy with that query, but at least he did not hang up on me (unlike Faye Dunaway, who hung up on G.W. five fucking times before I cajoled her into finishing our “phoner”). Thanks to the “Bon Jovi rule,” we always scheduled the photo shoot before the interview, so the subjects couldn’t refuse to be photographed if they didn’t like my questions.
But anybody can do this Q&A thing, G.W. Isn’t it true that you’re way overrated?
Yeah, right! I have remastered and redefined the art of the celebrity question-and-answer, and no one can convince me otherwise—not even you! My approach is to combine the disarming conversational charm of Andy Warhol with the intellectual and journalistic rigor of my idol, the late, great Oriana Fallaci.
Did Oriana Fallaci ever go missing in Moscow for three months, as Page Six said you did back in 2004?
Darling, I was having the best sex of my life those three months in Moscow! You’ve heard of Rasputin? “Russia’s greatest love machine,” as that Boney M. disco song succinctly put it. Well, G.W. was Rastaputin!
Your next book ought to be titled Manthropology.
What a queenious idea!
Are you currently in what The New York Times would call a “gay union”?
G.W. is non-union at the moment. I wouldn’t say no to a steamy, illicit love affair with Hugh Grosvenor, the 26-year-old billionaire, 7th Duke of Westminster, and ninth-richest man in Britain. But the one who truly holds my male gaze is that New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Gronk is my crunk!
O.K., calm down with the cray cray. Besides the pornography, what else are you reading?
Sitting next to this computer right now are three books: The New Book of Snobs: A Definitive Guide to Modern Snobbery by D.J. Taylor; Pan Am History, Design & Identity by Matthias C. Hühne, because I just love the cover design; and A Snob in the Kitchen by Simonetta, for the same reason—the fabulous cover! I am hoping someone sends me a copy of the new book from Brian Klaas called The Despot’s Apprentice: Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy, which is obviously a must-read.
Gee, but you love Ivana and Ivanka in your book.
Let’s not go there right now, G.W.Q. But broach that subject again in six months. All I will now add is that Joe Biden has no choice but to step up to the Democratic ticket and ask Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg to be his running mate!
What’s next for G.W.?
Now that is the most pertinent question you have asked all evening! G.W. is definitely looking for work while also toiling away on the emerging roman à clef Friction. I have written six chapters already, and I am working up the nerve to pitch David Remnick at The New Yorker on an excerpt in the Fiction Issue. And of course I am maintaining every hope that Anyone Who’s Anyone is a huge sleeper hit. After all, George Wayne is the emblematic New York City urban legend. No one can tell me otherwise. And please do realize that my advanced narcissistic disorder is neither as advanced nor as dangerous as Donald Trump’s!
Last question: if you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
A witch doctor!
GEORGE WAYNE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK AND INTERVIEWING CELEBRITIES FOR 30 YEARS
The former Vanity Fair columnist has released a book with Harper Collins that touches upon his most notable interviews.
February 8, 2018
TEXT: NADJA SAYEJ
New York journalist George Wayne is the quintessential celebrity interviewer—he once asked Donatella Versace about her bleached hair, got Kate Moss to open up about losing her virginity and uncovered Anna Wintour’s pet peeves. Now, after his 30-year career in showbiz, the former Vanity Fair columnist has released a book with Harper Collins called Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017. The book features almost 50 interviews with New York icons, from Joan Rivers to Martha Stewart, Hollywood star Charlton Heston and magician David Copperfield. Wayne took some time to chat about the new book, hanging out with Gianni Versace and befriending with Ivana Trump.
What do you love interviewing about celebrities the most?
I always believe the question and answer format is an art form, I would like to think I remastered, reinvented, rejiggered the art of the Q&A and it all stems from a sense of curiosity. When I first joined Vanity Fair, I wanted to bring something smart, post-modern, witty and provocative to the table. I wanted to reinvent the Q&A as my messier, my beat. They let me a chance to do it and after 23 years of mastering this form, I would like to think nobody can do a Q&A like me and I continue to perfect it. I probe. Some questions need to be asked and not many people can manage to ask and get away with it, as I’ve managed to do. I’ve asked questions to some of the most extraordinary people who have walked the earth, so this book is really a post-modern treaty on pop culture that will stand the test of time. It will join the ranks of Andy Warhol’s “Diaries” and Candace Bushnell’s “Sex and the City.”
What’s the biggest mistake you see in Q&As?
Tough question, it’s to not really open up and answer the question. Jon Bon Jovi is not in the book because he was grumpy when I interviewed him over the phone while he was on tour in the 1990s and I said “Are you having a bad hair day?” That set him off. You have to be open and responsive.
Why do you frame your questions in an amusing way?
It’s just who I am. The art of conversation is really important. I want my reader to learn something new; you have to bring a whole new perspective. I interviewed Charlton Heston, a Hollywood icon, who would intimidate the average journalist punk. If you read my interview with him, you’ll learn that he turned down Marilyn Monroe because she thought she was too difficult. Or that time I interviewed Carrie Fischer and asked her what it was like waking up to a dead man in her home one morning [in 2005, Fisher's friend Gregory Stevens, a gay Republican lobbyist, died in his sleep in her home]. She was so open, she answered every question forthrightly. She never said to me “I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”
You became friends with Ivana Trump after interviewing her?
Yes, she became a good friend, I love her. I was tough enough with her; I call her “my God Mama.” Maybe she wouldn’t talk to me if we weren’t? She had a dinner party in 1990, the same year she confronted Marla Maples about having an affair with Donald Trump. I was there. You can become close with these people but not too close.
Does it bother you if you pissed of a lot of PR agencies?
I love pissing off PR agencies. I love when they show up with their talent and expect to sit in on the interviews. I never do interviews with the hacks in the room. Either you don’t show up or you go somewhere else. I got a good giggle with Arianna Huffington, I flew to Washington to interview her, she was a senator’s wife at that time. We were having lunch in the Watergate district and I said something which was common knowledge. I said “can we talk about your gay husband?” She grabbed the tape recorder and ran through the restaurant with my tape recorder. I ran after her yelling “Arianna! Gave me back my tape!” That was the only time the subject took my tape recorder, took out the tape and said “This interview is over.” Ever since, I had the Arianna Rule installed - I have a tape recorder on the table and one in my pocket.
Who is your favorite interview in the book?
There’s so many, I was grateful to interview Donatella Versace, especially with the new TV show based on Gianni Versace. I remember being at Casa Casuarina in Miami and having lunch at the mansion and how gossipy Gianni was, he had all the best fashion gossip. You would go to the mansion for lunch and you’d be there for four hours. After lunch you go by the pool, swim, then go back for cocktails then more gossip and then you would walk out with a fabulous Versace towel or a Medusa medallion. I’m so happy Donatella let me publish the interview with her in my book.
QUOTED: "It was something I’ve always wanted to do since the very first day I moved to New York City, circa ’85-‘86—to be an author. This is the sort of the book that I know will draw on the pantheon of what I call New York City Pop Literature—or 'poperature.' Other examples would be The Andy Warhol Diaries, Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney and Social Studies by Fran Lebowitz."
George Wayne Shares His Trump Story
The Controversial Celebrity Interviewer on the Donald, Marky Mark and Anna Wintour
BY SAM EICHNER · DECEMBER 05, 2017
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D64fd53b41d40511eac55f1e997b4e21 Photo: Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images
Writer, editor and all-around man-about-town George Wayne has mastered the art of the celebrity interview—just ask George Wayne. Witty, mischievous and gleefully controversial, he made his name as the author of the George Wayne Questionnaire—a series of snippy, high-profile tête-a-têtes with everyone from his “godmama” Ivana Trump, to Joan Rivers, to David Copperfield—which have been running somewhat regularly in Vanity Fair for over twenty years.
Today, Wayne has published a compendium of those infamous conversations, in a slim book called Anyone Who’s Anyone. Unlike many other celebrity interviewers and profilers at work today, Wayne not only leaned into tough or personal questions—he seemed to relish asking them, particularly those related to sex. Fans of his work already know this, of course. But for the uninitiated, like me, it will leave you with a sense of admiration for an interviewer so audacious, he was willing to ask Charlton Heston which one of his leading ladies it was hardest to have screen sex with.
———— ADVERTISEMENT ————
“We have to be a little controversial,” Vanity Fair’s longtime editor-in-chief Graydon Carter recalls Wayne writing, in his forward for the book. “Or what’s the point?”
Intrigued, I called Wayne up to discuss the new collection, his relationship with the Trumps, a salacious, unconfirmed Bob Marley rumor and the first question he'd ask Madonna...
So how did this book come about?
It was something I’ve always wanted to do since the very first day I moved to New York City, circa ’85-‘86—to be an author. This is the sort of the book that I know will draw on the pantheon of what I call New York City Pop Literature—or “poperature.” Other examples would be The Andy Warhol Diaries, Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney and Social Studies by Fran Lebowitz. I wouldn’t mention Sex and the City because I’m still mad at [writer] Candace Bushnell, because she never gave me no fucking credit for introducing her to Mr. Big [laughs].
Is “poperature” a term you created?
Yes. I’m good for coining a word. The word "poperature" is my coinage, just as much as the word “queenious.” It’s beyond genius. It’s “queenious.”
What makes a George Wayne interview a George Wayne interview?
At the end of the day I want the reader to laugh and learn something new about these people. The ones who got it—Carrie Fisher, Joan River, Kate Moss—kind of go with the flow. Unlike others, like Jon Bon Jovi, who’s not in the book, or Arianna Huffington or 50 Cent, who were real jerks, and didn’t really get it.
Where was the strangest place you’ve conducted an interview?
The first interview I did with Mark Walhberg—he’s not in the book, he didn’t want to be in the book, I know why he didn’t want to be in the book...
Why didn’t he want to be in the book?
He didn’t want to be in the book [laughs]...it’s a long story. But the first time I interviewed Mark Wahlberg he was still Marky Mark. This was the height of his Marky Mark poster boy stud muffin ideal. He’s reinvented himself so many times. He’d just got off a plane from Tokyo and I took a car out to New Jersey to interview him in his manager’s home. And I remember at the end of the interview, we were in this library with this fireplace going, I told him take of his shirt and give me fifty push-ups. And he did.
Mark Wahlberg is one of only two people you’ve interviewed twice, the other being David Copperfield. Is there a reason?
We became really good friends. He’s not in the book. I didn’t really want to talk about him. But when I do decide to sell the rights for this as a film, and I think there’s enough there—then we can get into all of that.
We’ll have to talk again at that point. Is there anyone else in the book you’d like to interview again now?
Off the top of my head, the interview with Anna Wintour. Anna Wintour is the dominatrix of Condé Nast right now, the creative director and editor-in-chief of Vogue. But when I interviewed Anna Wintour way, way back in the ‘90s, it was one of the only interviews she’d ever done. She was sort of a riddle wrapped in an enigma. I’m hoping when the paperback edition comes out 10-12 months from now, I’ll have had the chance to interview Anna Wintour again and ask her if it was really true that in the early ‘70s, she had an affair with Bob Marley, because it’s just part of the mythology surrounding Anna Wintour. Which I think is fascinating.
I would like to hear that story.
I do have some confirmation that this really did happen, because at the time, in the ‘70s, at the height of his career, [Marley] was having an affair with Miss Jamaica World. And Miss Jamaica World at the time told me that it’s true, Bob and Anna did have a fling. So I want to have that confirmed. Down the road that will be my dream. In fact, maybe when I see her next week at Graydon [Carter]’s goodbye party, I’ll ask her.
I notice you take credit for introducing Johnny Depp to Kate Moss in the book. Tell me more about that.
I introduced Kate Moss to Johnny Depp at Café Tabac. It was the salon. Café Tabac was the place to see and be seen. Kate Moss walked in the room with Naomi [Campbell] and Johnny Depp was having dinner. And I dragged Kate over and said, “Kate, this is Johnny, Johnny, this is Kate,” not realizing that they would go on to destroy hotel rooms across the globe for the next 18 months.
As a creature of the New York downtown scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s, you must have a good Trump story.
Of course. I’ve known the Trumps forever. Ivana—I call her my “godmama”—she is the most amazing woman in the world. I’ve known Ivanka since she was 11-years-old.
How do you think she’s doing?
Ivanka is an amazing girl. I really adore her, but with what’s going on in the world right now and how this craziness has evolved...It’s very disappointing. Donald Trump—I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I’m disappointed to say the least.
Any personal run-ins with the Donald?
I remember the fist time I went to the Trump Tower. He had a party for Erté, who was this really eccentric, fey queen—to put it mildly. But he was brilliant. He was an artist and an illustrator. And to see Donald Trump with Erté, who really looked like a drag queen, and entertaining this man in Trump Tower...I look back at that and think, “How can Donald Trump be this islamophobic, homophobic, racist? Where did all this come from?” Because the Trump I knew back in the ‘80s, ‘90s, early aughts—he was nothing like this. I always remember that picture [I took of Trump and Erté]. Because I gave it to Ivanka, too. It kind of sums up what was then and what’s now. And it’s jarring.
If you could ask President Trump one question, as the master of the celebrity interview, what would it be?
The first question would be: What went wrong? What happened? Where did this madness come from? We’ve heard of the madness of King George, but the madness of Donald Trump is beyond anything that’s imaginable.
Is there anyone in the world right now you’d be particularly interested in interviewing?
I always wanted to interview Madonna. The first thing I’d ask is: How many abortions did you have? I love Lady Gaga. I love Rihanna—I’d love to interview her. I’d love to interview Emmanuel Macron. And even Vlad Putin, if he’d sit to talk with me. Because my whole spiel is high culture/low culture. I want to interview them all. I know that given the opportunity—an hour, 90 minutes—that I could bring something new and interesting and revealing that has never been revealed before about their lives, about their personas, about their story.
In your opinion, what is the state of the celebrity profile or interview? Because it seems like, with social media and the internet, everyone has access to celebrities in a way they might not have in the ‘80s and ‘90s or even early aughts.
Every celebrity has a Twitter or Instagram handle—or most of them do. But at the same time, it’s about them projecting what they want you to think about them, what they want you to know about them, what they want you to feel about them. So at the end of the day, there will always be room for a great magazine and great research and great talent, who will be brave enough to ask them the questions that really matter.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
QUOTED: "I have had the true distinction of being granted the opportunity to interview some of the most extraordinary personalities this planet has ever seen. And that is not mere hyperbole. ... I have interviewed more than a smattering of famous and fascinating folk. Those featured in this book are a thorough and interesting mix."
"This book delivers classic reality. It’s real moments with real people. From dead legends such as Carrie Fisher to living legends like Kate Moss. These are interviews with history!"
"Having a book now part of the United States Library of Congress is a dream come true for this ink-stained wretch born and bred on the island of Jamaica."
Posted on November 22, 2017
George Wayne, interviewer to the stars, lists celebrities who didn’t want to be in his new book.
George Wayne
Lesley Abravanel
For Miami.com
Art Baselcelebrities
There are celebrity interviewers and then there’s George Wayne.
He’s best known for his no holds barred, third degree interrogations of the rich, famous and infamous in Vanity Fair’s George Wayne Q&A.
GW, as he’s known in inner circles, has compiled some of his best interviews in “Anyone Who’s Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews 1987-2017.”
Anyone Who’s Anyone is out on December 5Handout
From the first ever interview with Anna Wintour to architect Phillip Johnson, a Trump spawn, British royalty and everyone in between, Wayne speaks celebrity with the fluency of a multilingual jet setter. The book, out on Dec. 5, is set to launch with much “vanity fanfare” at a private penthouse dinner during Art Basel. The Basel party will be the second stop of Wayne’s launch tour, after a huge blowout hosted by Interview and Vanity Fair correspondent Bob Colacello in New York City at Art Basel bigwig Aby Rosen’s new 63-story skyscraper.
Before he makes his way down to Miami, where he has some history, we had a chance to put on our best GW frock with the master himself.
You’ve interviewed everyone! Is there “anyone who’s anyone” you’ve yet to interrogate and if so, what are they afraid of?
Tis true. I have had the true distinction of being granted the opportunity to interview some of the most extraordinary personalities this planet has ever seen. And that is not mere hyperbole… I have interviewed more than a smattering of famous and fascinating folk. Those featured in this book are a thorough and interesting mix.
And there are those who I really wanted to be in the book and did not want to. I can understand Mark Wahlberg not wanting GW to have to bring up our most amazing ”bromance” back in the day when he was Marky Mark. Now he has re-invented himself as the Hollywood Dad with way too many kids and his brand, which will happily now also claim, the Hollywood actor who made the most money of all of them in 2017. So, he didn’t want to be part of the book and have GW reminisce about those glory days when he and I would romp alone in the nude in his private swimming pool of his L.A. bachelor pad.
I can understand Arianna Huffington not wanting to be in my future best-seller, too. After all, when we first met for lunch at this chic society restaurant in Georgetown, Washington D.C., my first query to Arianna Huffington (was)”Can we talk about your gay husband [Senator Michael Huffington]?” She grabbed my tape-recorder from the table and dashed through the restaurant screaming — ”George, this interview is over!” She should have thanked me! After that unforgettable moment with the “New York Post” Page Six screaming the headline two days later — “When Arianna Went Ape for The Tape” — she divorced the closet homosexual five months later, moved to Manhattan and re-invented herself as an arbiter by launching her Huffington Post. She owes GW! That woman had the biggest nut-sac of any Alpha vixen I have ever met, that Arianna Huffington. And what was your question again, dahlinka?
Tell us the truth: When you wooed Anna Wintour with your sassy style, did she keep the glasses on or take them off?
As for that interview with Anna Wintour — which is in fact the very, very, first interview Anna Wintour ever granted to anyone — the only reason Anna Wintour sat for this GWQA back in November 1997 was because it was for my Xerox, home-made, hand-crafted ‘zine, “R.O.M.E.” My little Xerox-photo-copied magazine with a circulation of 200. But by granting this interview, Anna Wintour displayed her keen, astute, prescient-ability. She knew GW was destined for pop culture stardom even back then, which was not unusual for Anna Wintour. She was (even then), and remains the high priestess of the glossy magazine. And as any young journalist must know, Anna Wintour can launch a career like no other magazine editor in this business can.
And yes, she did keep her darkened, signature lunettes on for the entire audience she afforded this star-struck kid back in 1997.
When Ivanka Trump listed ways to spot a frenemy, did she include the key to spotting white supremacists and neo-Nazis in her father’s cabinets?
No! Obviously not. I did this interview with Ivanka years ago when even she hardly foresaw her becoming a future First Daughter of the United States. I have known Ivanka since she was 11 years. I have always adored Ivanka Trump. But this past year has been most difficult to bare. It’s been a sad and appalling disaster what this POTUS 45 has wrought on the world. The other day I was grazing the “Daily Mail” online and saw this most wonderful quote. It was, in fact, taken off one of those road signs outside — believe it or not (from) an evangelical church in the South. The sign read ”When I Find Myself in Tweets O’ Trouble/Mother Russia Comes to Me/ Speaking Words of Wisdom/Covfefe…” When all is said and done, however, this POTUS 45 presidency is no laughing matter.
I’m going to go Barbara Walters on you, with all due respect, and ask you this: If Miami were a person, what kind of person would it be, and what would you ask it?
If Miami were a person? It would be the most-gorgeous, most real and most fun-loving and most insatiable and sexiest satyr on the North American continent!
Are you more of a Tweeter, a Snapchatter, an Instagrammer, a joker, a smoker or a midnight toker?
I never Tweet. I get paid for my opinion. I may start an online column for the new website I am developing for my R.O.M.E. where I will have a daily column. If I were to tweet (it would) be classic GW Quips and Bon Mots delivered to an audience who will have to subscribe to the online site I am developing for mid-2018 launch. Stay tuned, dahlinka! I love Insta, by the way, so please follow GW @georgewayneqa! And do it now!
While compiling the interviews for your book, were there any regrets as far as questions you wished you didn’t ask of certain subjects?
No regrets. This book delivers classic reality. It’s real moments with real people. From dead legends such as Carrie Fisher to living legends like Kate Moss. These are interviews with history!
Lastly, if you had any advice to give newbies looking to question celebrities away from their protective publicist shells, what would it be?
Oh Gosh! You have no idea how many publicists I had to chase away from my interviews. I always treated them the way they tend to treat journalists. I am sure you fully understand dealing with uppity, over-bearing celebrity handlers, Lesley. Granted, GW was there conducting these interviews (most of them) at the behest of the most revered and important and relevant magazine about our popular culture, which was “Vanity Fair.” So I would chase them away without any care in the world: “Go sit over there! And do not interrupt GW until I am finished conducting this interview.” That was my quote of armor!!
And if I may add the following thoughts….
Having a book now part of the United States Library of Congress is a dream come true for this ink-stained wretch born and bred on the island of Jamaica.
I have always LOVED Miami. My fondest memories as a fourteen-year-old was flying to Miami for a long weekend with my parents and siblings and staying at the Dupont Plaza and going shopping, shopping, shopping with my mum, who always loved to shop. That and eating Corn Flakes for breakfast by the hotel pool and dreaming about living in America. And it happened! I had amazing parents! So grateful.
The art of the interview requires keen, keen research on the subject at hand. And always listening! You must listen to the subject, absorb what they are saying while at the same time concocting a response — a follow-up in your head — while always trying to be amusing. Making people laugh is a great gift. If you have it, use it to your fullest advantage always!
QUOTED: "a fun romp through celebrity culture."
Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017
Michael Ruzicka
Booklist. 114.5 (Nov. 1, 2017): p8.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017.
By George Wayne.
Dec. 2017. 304p. Harper, $25.99 (9780062380074). 791.
A good bit of pop-culture gossip is always tantalizing, especially if you're hearing it straight from the source. The "George Wayne Questionnaire" had been a rooted feature in the pages of Vanity Fair for more than 20 years. Before that, Wayne honed his Q&A skills at his own DIY periodical R.O.M.E. and later in the author-adored Interview. Here we get the greatest hits cultivated by the master provocateur. Interviews with Carrie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds offer a sentimental pause, while irreverent conversations with Kate Moss and Bridget Hall have the cattiness of a drunken sleepover. Wayne introduces each reprinted interview by sharing some personal history and providing a current context. Some observations seem to be out of touch, especially his extolling the greatness of Ivanka Trump. But that is the allure of juicy gossip and what's made Wayne such an artful interviewer; we all secretly want to know, and he is just the personality to tell you. A fun romp through celebrity culture.--Michael Ruzicka
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ruzicka, Michael. "Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017." Booklist, 1 Nov. 2017, p. 8. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515382872/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b34c7eeb. Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515382872
QUOTED: "At times fascinating, the interviews offer a casual, unguarded look at some of the most high-profile personalities of the past thirty years."
Wayne , George: ANYONE WHO'S ANYONE
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Wayne , George ANYONE WHO'S ANYONE Harper/HarperCollins (Adult Nonfiction) $25.99 12, 5 ISBN: 978-0-06-238007-4
A career-spanning collection of the writer's celebrity interviews.Since 1987, George Wayne, or GW, has picked the brains of pop-culture luminaries for readers of his DIY magazine R.O.M.E., Interview, and Vanity Fair, where his column appeared for 22 years. Collected in this volume for the first time, the interviews offer unique insight into a particular New York social circle populated by the glitterati, fashionistas, celebrities, and other socialites. Having landed in New York in the early 1980s after graduating from the University of Georgia, Wayne immediately immersed himself in downtown clubs, and his predilection for fashion designers and celebrities reflects the exclusivity and stratification of that scene. (References to air-kisses abound.) The "Q&As," as the author calls them, are conversational and irreverent, and Wayne never shies away from asking controversial, occasionally random questions. He asks Joan Rivers about her fondness for plastic surgery, 90-year-old architect Philip Johnson about Viagra, and on which date David Copperfield first slept with supermodel girlfriend Claudia Schiffer, among other non sequiturs. Updated with contemporary introductions, not all of Wayne's interviews seem slated for posterity. His fawning adoration of "alpha fox" Ivanka Trump and the assurance that she would "keep POTUS 45 [her father, Donald Trump] grounded and real" is already terribly dated. Other interviewees include model Kate Moss, Donatella Versace, Carrie Fisher, Marc Jacobs, Barry White, Kathleen Turner, Farrah Fawcett, Tony Curtis, Charlton Heston, Martha Stewart, and Russell Simmons. Featuring a foreword by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (who says Wayne reminds us "that we could all use a bit more mischief in our lives before the age of the individual passes us by for good"), Wayne's collected interviews are playful snapshots of the rarefied world of celebrity shoulder-rubbing. At times fascinating, the interviews offer a casual, unguarded look at some of the most high-profile personalities of the past 30 years.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Wayne , George: ANYONE WHO'S ANYONE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A504217602/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ff597431. Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A504217602
QUOTED: "So tightly condensed are GW's lavish cajoleries and prodding condescension that the read can feel a bit like drinking chardonnay from a fire hose."
"Keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time."
Review: Book of celeb interviews best enjoyed in small sips
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This cover image released by Harper shows "Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017," by George Wayne. (Harper via AP)
This cover image released by Harper shows "Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017," by George Wayne. (Harper via AP)
The Associated Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, December 19, 2017, 2:35 PM
Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017" (Harper), by George Wayne
Eagerly plucked from the pages of Vanity Fair, the Daily Front Row and R.O.M.E. and thrust into the public's hands comes George ("GW") Wayne's collection of his favorite celebrity interviews conducted over three decades. An apt forward by Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter sets the stage for GW's grandiosity, followed by the author's own introduction in which he reveals his path from Jamaican schoolboy to self-described "carnivore of popular culture" in "Anyone Who's Anyone."
In GW's snappy Q&As, he asks much less about the stars' latest work and instead charges with gusto into the hidden corners of their lives. In a bewildering way, his calculated ploys, cloaked sometimes in flattery and other times in outright mockery ("Do you think Hollywood thinks you're a has-been?"), provoke the famous to vulnerability. Before they realize it, they're ticking off the contents of their medicine cabinets and casually dishing on favorite ex-husbands, girlfriends and roommates.
Joan Rivers, Fabio, Ivana Trump, Kathleen Turner and Geraldo, among others, grace the pages (some more grudgingly than others). The interviews serve as snapshots of the times, and reading them five or 25 years after the fact proves amusing. We remember the film or book or play one embarked upon, now knowing if that was the project that shot the star to even higher fame or served as the final flicker of a spiraling career.
So tightly condensed are GW's lavish cajoleries and prodding condescension that the read can feel a bit like drinking chardonnay from a fire hose. One Hollywood plastic surgery anecdote slipped among the glamorous pages of Vanity Fair proves deliciously interesting, but placed between dozens of other similarly flavored conversations, the result seems crowded. To better savor GW's ill-mannered, quick-witted tongue, keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.