AN ORNATELY CLAD ROYAL, DRAPED IN VELVET AND FRILLS, SITS AT HIS DRESSING TABLE WITHIN THE HALLOWED HALLS OF VERSAILLES AWAITING A FINAL DUSTING OF POWDER.
Just then, a courtier bursts in with an urgent message concerning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
But this is not the 1700s, and the man in the chair is not King Louis XV. It's July 2022, and Johnny Depp, of Owensboro, Kentucky, is having his hair and makeup done for his role in a French period piece titled Jeanne du Barry. The messenger is a senior producer with a surprising request: Prince Badr bin Farhan AI Saud wants to meet with Depp.
The prince, an amiable fellow with a toothy grin, is Saudi Arabia's culture minister and a cousin of the omnipotent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS. In 2017, Prince Badr made headlines when he served as the front man for MBS's purchase of the world's most expensive painting, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. Price tag: $450 million.
Not that Depp cares. "No way," he tells the producer. "I didn't sign up for this." The catch, however, is that Prince Badr has suddenly become very important to the production of Jeanne du Barry. By investing millions in the project via Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Fund, he has earned the right to an audience with the star.
After a few days of back-and-forth, Depp reluctantly agrees to the meeting. It goes so well that, within months, the 60-year-old actor, known for palling around with the likes of Keith Richards and the late Hunter S. Thompson, will stand face-to-face with MBS, the 38-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Theirs will be a bromance like no other.
WITH HIS WILLINGNESS to spend billions of dollars in a relentless drive to transform his country into a cultural and economic superpower, MBS is shaking up the world order. To decipher his increasingly consequential moods, methods, and moves, global leaders rely on thousands of diplomats, linguists, and spies.
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Cinema VERITÉ
At Art Basel Paris, Miu Miu reaffirms its support of women in film
A KILLER VIEW
When an heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune noticed that a grove of majestic oaks on her coastal Maine property had died, she cast her suspicions on her neighbors uphill, summer residents who wanted a better view of Camden Harbor. The legal fight that ensued became a town drama that roils to this day
ATLAS SHRUGGED
A brawny bodybuilder with a generous side: atypical Wall Street sage. But as CIO of Scott Minerd was an Guggenheim Partners, he oversaw billions for the firm and made millions for himself to him and His sudden death shocked spurred infighting over his $400 million estate even those closest
Red Hot
There's no one in Hollywood-or anywhere else, probably-like NATASHA LYONNE. Her wry, wrenching work in Poker Face, His Three Daughters, and Russian Doll has brought an indie favorite into the spotlight
The Maly Poppins of Mulholland Drive
When I was nine, Lara Flynn Boyle was my father's sweetheart- and my best friend
THE SQUATTER OF POINT DUME
SURE, LET A NEIGHBOR USE THE GUEST ROOM FOR A FEW NIGHTS. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? A LOT, AS A SERIES OF UNSUSPECTING RESIDENTS LEARNED AFTER ONE WOMAN ALLEGEDLY EXPLOITED CALIFORNIA'S TENANCY LAWS TO TURN CASUAL STAYS INTO PROTRACTED EVICTION WARS IN AN EXCLUSIVE MALIBU ENCLAVE
Girls, INTERRUPTED
Nestled in the Berkshires, with a pedigree dating back to 1898, MISS HALL'S SCHOOL appears to be a cocoon of safety and formative tutelage for its students, all of them young women. But for decades, an alleged sexual predator operated on campus. Now alumnae are speaking out in hopes of holding their former teacher-and the school-accountable
Coming HOMME
ROBERT PATTINSON has been the face of Dior Homme for more than a decade. With a brand-new fragrance campaign and a leading role in Mickey 17, the actor takes a moment to reflect
The Californians
Ensconced in their cozy Montecito mansion, Harry and Meghan are living the California dream, raising their own little prince and princess. By all accounts, the love is real. But five years after their break with the monarchy, their foray into moguldom has not always been a smooth ride
Behind THE PODIUM
As President Biden's barrier-breaking press secretary leaves the White House, she considers the ups and downs of being a first
