Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Cassidy aids in own weekend wedding

It was a good weekend for William Cassidy , the former top aide to Las Vegas Mayor OscarGoodman.

The 53-year-old Cassidy, who spent most of 2003 in jail, got married at Bellagio in a Buddhist ceremony he says he performed himself.

Performing your own marriage ceremony is a rare but legal act. The Cassidy union has been recorded on the Clark County website.

Cassidy told Las Vegas Sun columnist Jeff German that his bride is a UCLA microbiology major named Sophin Phanprasit, that she is 26 and is a member of the royal family in Thailand, which could not be confirmed.

In November, Cassidy was released after serving nearly nine months at Clark County Detention Center after he had been arrested for sexually assaulting his ex-wife and burning down her massage parlor.

He had resigned his City Hall post in 2001 after a separate domestic violence arrest.

Cassidy is also known for serving as a consultant to defendants Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy during the Ted Binion murder trial.

In 2003, during the course of several jailhouse interviews with German, Cassidy said that Binion was murdered, and offered to help prosecutors in the case.

However, the prosecutors have yet to take him up on his offer because they feel that Cassidy's information might fall under Murphy and Tabish's attorney-client relationship and be declared confidential.

Britney sells

More publicity for Las Vegas, thanks to Britney Spears -- "Saturday Night Live" had a field day with the pop star's quickie wedding.

"Jason Alexander said that the wedding was a practical joke gone too far," said Weekend Update anchor Tina Fey, sitting in front of a backdrop of the Strip.

Then, she deadpanned: "Well, what marriage isn't?"

In another skit, host Jennifer Aniston played Spears and Jimmy Fallon played Alexander in a hilarious mock re-creation of the hours leading up to the nuptials.

New menu

Is Paul Bocuse -- one of the world's renowned chefs -- about to join the list of celebrity chefs in Las Vegas?

Bocuse, whose eponymous eatery in a suburb of Lyon, France, has earned a three-star Michelin rating for each of the last 36 years, was in Vegas this weekend, visiting one of his proteges, Aureole (Mandalay Bay) Executive Chef Philippe Rispoli.

The two dined Saturday night at the new Caffe Giorgio (Mandalay Bay), where Bocuse peppered Rispoli with questions about the Vegas culinary scene.

Punk'd in

The Dead Kennedys -- a VegasBeat favorite from the days in the early '80s, when we wore a skinny tie -- are coming to Las Vegas.

The legendary San Francisco punks are known for their savagery and satire in such songs as "Holiday in Cambodia," "Kill the Poor" and "California Uber Alles," a blistering attack on then-California Gov. Jerry Brown.

The reunited group plays the Boston on East Flamingo Road on Feb. 28. Tickets are $15 and are available at the box office or at Ticketmaster.com.

VegasBits

Mile: Rapper and actor Eminem and some hulking men that seemed to be his bodyguards had a late breakfast Sunday at the Verandah at the Four Seasons ...

Fame names: Actress Jennifer Connelly ("House of Sand and Fog") made the scene at Rain in the Desert (Palms) on Friday night. Also at Rain in what we hope was a beautiful state of mind: Reggie Jackson, Danny Trejo, Tyson Beckford and 50 Cent ...

Shorty: Actor and former California gubernatorial candidate Gary Coleman was by his lonesome, enjoying a burger at the Island Paradise Cafe at Stardust late Thursday after spending the day at CES promoting a new video game ...

Name guy: Porn patriarch Larry Flynt rolled into AquaKnox (Venetian) for dinner Friday night ...

Name dinner: Wayne Brady took nine of his friends out to dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons) on Saturday night ...

Name game: Deborah (Please don't call her Debbie) Gibson held a private performance in the Four Seasons Ballroom on Saturday night at Canon U.S.A.'s "Bring The Kids Home" benefit. Also seen dancing to her foolish beat: Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules" and "Andromeda"), Joe Regalbuto ("Murphy Brown") and Bryan Cranston ("Malcolm in the Middle") ...

Share: Syndicated radio DJs Howard Stern (heard locally 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KXTE 107.5-FM) and Rush Limbaugh (on KXNT 840-AM from 9 a.m. to noon) both celebrate birthdays today. How-weird turns the big 5-0. Limbaugh is 53 ...

Sneak: On Jan. 20 the Las Vegas Art Museum is hosting the first area screening of "Girl With a Pearl Earring" as a gift to its patrons. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as the 17th century housemaid and model employed by the painter Johannes Vermeer ...

Skate: One-time Olympian and French ice skating champion Surya Bonaly now lives in Las Vegas and was sworn in as a U.S. citizen at the federal courthouse downtown Friday ...

Joker: Comic Chris Rock brings his "Black Ambition Tour" to the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5. As previously announced, Spears is on the same stage the next night. Rock should have a field day with that one ...

Star: Cameras from Fox News were following Clint Holmes Saturday night for a feature piece on hidden Vegas. He took the crew to Bootlegger Bistro, where Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, Dennis Bono, Sonny King and Kelly Clinton put on some impromptu performances ...

Best: Award-winning Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Mike Smith had a drawing featured in Newsweek magazine's year-end review of 2003's best cartoons. The panel centered on the remarks made by the Dixie Chicks at the start of the war in Iraq.

From Sun wires

People's choices: The people have spoken, and their favorite movies are about pirates, hobbits and divine intervention.

People's Choice Awards were presented Sunday night to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" for favorite movie, "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" for favorite drama and "Bruce Almighty" for favorite comedy.

Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts won for favorite film actor and actress. Ray Romano and Aniston won for favorite male and female TV performers. Tom Hanks was named favorite all-time entertainer.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was selected favorite TV drama series. "Friends" won for favorite comedy series.

Beyonce Knowles and Faith Hill tied for favorite female musical performer, with Tim McGraw winning the favorite male musical performer spot.

Mass murder musical: A musical theater production in California about Andrew Cunanan's 1997 cross country killing spree is drawing opposition on both coasts.

Some members of South Florida's gay community and a friend of Cunanan's in California oppose the production.

Cunanan, a 27-year-old reputed gay escort and drug user, was linked to five murders across the country, including the slaying of fashion designer Gianni Versace.

The La Jolla Playhouse in California received a $35,000 grant for the project from the National Endowment for the Arts. The piece would be called "Disposable."

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