THE GIRLS WERE MELTING. It was Southern California, and though it was spring— and though they weren’t wearing much to begin with—it was so very hot. Ice dissolved in syrupy glasses of Pepsi. The smell of Mystic Tan hung heavy in the air. The Playmates, wearing their Easter best, dabbed their brows with foundation-stained tissues. When were they going to announce the winner? Looking out the warped walls of the tent, I could see the manicured lawn and the koi pond. Even farther in the distance, a pair of identical blonds jumped on the trampoline, skirts flying up and over their belly buttons. They didn’t care who won the egg hunt. But because I was 11, I did.
Something had gone wrong, it was obvious. There was never any waiting at the Mansion. Nor, as far as I knew at the time, was there ever any sadness, anger, or pain. But suddenly, the whispers began, passed between artificially puffed lips: The boys had cheated.
The rules for the hunt were well established. If you were under the age of five, you had the right to an accompanying parent. Beyond that, you were expressly forbidden to pool eggs with another competitor, though Hugh Hefner’s sons—my best friends, Marston and Cooper—usually did it anyway. The boys already had an advantage in that they could watch, all week long, as the squadrons of black-vested butlers hid the eggs across the property. But who could blame them? The hottest toy of 2002, the GameCube, was up for grabs.
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A House Divided
The Mellon dynasty has long been known for its old money refinement and discretion. But when TIM MELLON became Donald Trump's biggest donor many members of the family were mystified-and not afraid to talk about it
FUNNY BUSINESS
NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE LAUNCHED A REVOLUTION THAT CHANGED COMEDY, TELEVISION, AND THE MOVIES. NOW DIRECTOR JASON REITMAN HAS RE-CREATED THE CHAOTIC HOURS BEFORE SNL'S FIRST EPISODE. LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S 1975!
BAD FAITH
From exiled actors to academics, influencers to intellectuals, VF gets under the hood of the Catholic right's celebrity conversion industrial complex
THE GE NERAL
How ELIZABETH PRELOGAR, America's low-key, high-powered solicitor general, is holding the Supreme Court's feet to the fire
THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET
THE GERMAN INDUSTRIALIST KLAUSMICHAEL KUEHNE, BORN IN 1937, IS ONE OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, WITH MORE MONEY THAN KEN GRIFFIN, OR MACKENZIE SCOTT, OR FRANÇOIS PINAULT. WHERE DID HIS FAMILY FORTUNE COME FROM? THE NAZIS KNOW
GIVE AND LET GIVE
MELINDA FRENCH GATES is speaking out for the rights of women and girls, embracing her role as godmother to her fellow philanthropists, and getting political, even when it's a little uncomfortable.
VANITIES
MAISY STELLA knows how to think outside the box
Party PLANNING
Putin wants Trump to win, of course, and he's got big ideas about a new world order. Think Yalta-on Fiji
Boys and THEIR TOYS
Inside the hypermacho, Bible-thumping alt-tech universe trying to take on Silicon Valley-from El Segundo
STRANGER Things
The Democrats' short hot summer of \"weird\"