‘Chateau Marmont Is Not Going to Be Closed to the Public,’ Says Owner André Balazs (EXCLUSIVE)
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJust a few weeks after André Balazs bought the Chateau Marmont — he reportedly paid a little over $12 million for the 61-year-old, 63-room hotel in 1990 — he ran into legendary photographer Helmut Newton and his wife, June, in the lobby. The couple had been living part-time at the hotel for about three years. “I introduced myself as the new owner, and we sat down and Helmut leaned back in the sofa,” Balazs recalls in an exclusive interview with Variety from his farm in upstate New York.