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RSS Feed Around the World07. 02. 12. - 18:00
Lugner Anger at Roger Moore Snub
Marija Andric
Millionaire Builder Richard Lugner has slammed snooty organisers of the Vienna Opera Ball for putting him in a box on the second floor - saying his star guest this year Sir Roger Moore might not be able to make it.
The war of words between Lugner - a self-made millionaire and star of a hit TV soap about his love life - and the organisers of the VIP event broke out when he started bringing hired guests to the event.
His previous guests have included The Duchess of York, Grace Jones, erotic dancer Karima El Mahrough – better known by her stage name Ruby the Heartbreaker, Dita Von Teese, Andie MacDowell and Sophia Loren.
Ball organisers have long accused him of cheapening the event that prefers to focus on better profile guests where Europe’s political and economic elite rub shoulders with opera stars and ambassadors. They have made it clear they object to the share of the attention that Lugner and his hired guests attract.
They tried to ban Lugner but after that failed they resorted to moving him from the first floor to the second floor further away from the limelight and where the access to the media - and the spotlight - is reduced.
Now the entrepreneur, who owns Vienna’s Lugner City mall, claimed that organisers of the ball were posing "unreasonable demands" by refusing him his first floor box despite the health of his latest guest.
He said: "It’s asking a bit much. Roger Moore is currently physically disadvantaged. He recently underwent a knee surgery. He is depending on a walking stick to get around. How is he supposed to make it to the second floor like that?"
This year’s Opera Ball will take place on 16 February. Lugner – who was accompanied by actress Carmen Electra and it girl Paris Hilton at previous editions of the glamorous event – will not only have the "James Bond" star by his side. Danish model and actress Brigitte Nielsen also accepted his invitation.
Lugner wanted Nielsen – who won the latest edition of German TV station RTL’s version of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" (Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!) – to wear a dress made of chocolate at the Viennese Opera Ball.
But the idea was scrapped as it would have featured "complications", said Lugner, who was married four times.
He said a seamstress would have had to follow Nielsen all night to avoid any kind of unfortunate incidents caused by the risque outfit. "Brigitte could not sit down wearing the dress so we were forced to pull the plug on the idea," Lugner told the Austrian Times.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schulz and model Helena Christensen are also expected to attend the Vienna Opera Ball this year.
Tag cloud Moore Bond actress Millionaire Lugner German Brigitte Star organisers hired star Ball Europe floor Roger Nielsen Danish Vienna Opera event
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