1. BRUNO MARS, WHITE ROSES, AND HILLARY CLINTON HIGHLIGHT GRAMMYS: Bruno Mars swept the 60th Grammy Awards, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. The event also saw nominees wear white roses as a response to the #MeToo movement and a surprise appearance by Hillary Clinton. The New York Times: "The Grammys, like most awards shows, have been wrestling for years with issues of diversity: ethnic, gender and, in the Grammys’ case, musical. Not so long ago, the show drew eye rolls for over-rewarding elder heroes at the expense of pop’s younger, more vital mainstream. (Think Ray Charles beating Green Day and Kanye West in 2005, or Herbie Hancock defeating Amy Winehouse and, ahem, Mr. West in 2008.) The Grammys have generally gotten much better at recognizing the pulse of contemporary music. A diverse crop of nominees this year made it likely that the winners of the four most prestigious categories—album, record and song of the year, and best new artist—would not be white men. At the same time, gender remained very much still an issue. Lorde was the only woman up for album of the year; she did not perform at the ceremony. Julia Michaels and Ms. Cara have credits in the song of the year category (which recognizes songwriters). Otherwise, the top nominees were predominantly male. As a new report indicated, gender diversity at the Grammys—and in the music industry at large—has been abysmal. ... The political material was also played for laughs. In one segment, Mr. Corden had celebrities audition for the job of reading the audiobook of Michael Wolff’s 'Fire & Fury,' the much talked about look inside the Trump White House. John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg and Cardi B — a Bronx-born former stripper who has instantly become one of the music industry’s most beloved figures—all incredulously read excerpts aloud. The winning reader turned out to be Hillary Clinton." http://nyti.ms/2nj0fJ6
2. IVANKA TRUMP AND CHEF JOSé ANDRES INVOLVED IN PARTY MISCOMMUNICATION: After being denied entry into the Alfalfa Club dinner after-party on Saturday, chef José Andrés tweeted he wasn't let in because Ivanka Trump was there. But it turns out there was just a miscommunication between him and restaurateur Franco Nuschese. Washington Post: "On Saturday, the uber-rich folk descended on Washington for the 105th Alfalfa Club dinner, where an exclusive group of business and political bigwigs gather at the Capital Hilton to mingle in gowns and black tie. This year’s feast featured punchlines delivered by former president George W. Bush, former secretary of state John F. Kerry, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. And those were just the speakers. Afterward, the herd, which this year also included Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, typically thins as the VIPs head to a private after-party at Cafe Milano in Georgetown. An invitation to that event, which has nearly a dozen different hosts including Nuschese, Bob Johnson and Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan, among others, is even more exclusive than the dinner itself. 'It’s the A-list of the A-list parties,' said one person in the room. Invitations are non-transferable and not guaranteed. ... After being denied entry into the party just before 11 p.m., Andrés, who by his own admission knew his name wasn’t on the list, was incredulous. Other guests were being allowed into the VIP shindig without having to flash an invite, he said. Andrés felt he was being left out of the fun unfairly and took to Twitter to make the injustice known. 'Thank you @CafeMilanoDC Franco Nuschese!' Andrés wrote. 'I was a guest of the #alfalfaclubdinner2018 ‘everyone’ welcome to the after party, but I’m the only individual not allow in? Is because @IvankaTrump told you so? You should be ashamed of yourself Franco.@washingtonpost' That tweet, liked more than 22,000 times and retweeted more than 10,000 times prompted both Ivanka Trump and Nuschese to reach out to Andrés the next morning. Asked whether Trump’s presence at the party kept Andrés out, Nuschese replied, 'Absolutely not.' In fact, the Cafe Milano owner had been trying to reach Andrés on Sunday morning, as the tweets and likes racked up, but didn’t have the superstar chef’s direct number. The two finally spoke Sunday afternoon. 'I said, ‘José, it was just a private party, and I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, and I’m sorry for the way that you feel,’ ' Nuschese recalled. After their chat, Andrés corrected the record via social media, tweeting in part, 'Now let’s all be friends.' He also thanked Ivanka for 'reaching out' and said he believed she had nothing to do with it. Andrés then suggested they work on immigration reform together." http://wapo.st/2DKwnQa
3. CASINO MOGUL AND R.N.C. FINANCE CHAIR STEVE WYNN RESIGNS OVER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: Las Vegas casino and hotel mogul Steve Wynn resigned as the finance chair for the Republican National Convention after being accused of sexual misconduct by his employees. Politico: "The decision followed a Friday report in the Wall Street Journal alleging that Wynn engaged in sexual harassment. Wynn, 76, was President Donald Trump's handpicked choice for the finance position. It has not yet been determined who will replace him.Wynn has had a long relationship with the president, himself a former casino owner. After the 2016 election, Trump tapped the Las Vegas Republican to oversee the RNC's fundraising heading into a perilous midterm election for the party. Last Saturday, Wynn headlined a fundraiser for the president's reelection campaign and the RNC at Trump's posh Mar a Lago resort. During recent fundraising events — including one recent one in New York City — Wynn has praised Trump as a history-changing president in the mold of Lincoln and Reagan. But the sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn put Republicans in an untenable situation after the RNC and other GOP officials had ripped the Democratic Party last fall for its connections to Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul who raised and contributed large amounts of money for Democrats. Wynn acknowledged the 'distraction' caused by the controversy in a statement released Saturday." http://politi.co/2GoQyAu
* LOCAL NEWS *
CHICAGO: The 2018 Charity Poker Championship, benefiting Camp One Step by Children’s Oncology Services, will take place February 22 at the Montgomery Club.
LOS ANGELES: American Airlines opened its flagship lounge at LAX on January 17. The 14,500-square-foot lounge offers the brand’s Flagship First Dining service.
For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles
NEW YORK: The Rubin Museum of Art will host the Future Is Fluid Fete, a cocktail party benefit kicking off its Year of the Future exhibitions, on February 22. The event will include previews of exhibitions, interactive forecasting by Vedic astrologer Pallavi Shastri, and an appearance by Alex Dimitrov of astrology Twitter account Astro Poets.
For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork
ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA: Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort has named Emily Engel group account manager and Lindsay Hardee group sales manager.
SAN FRANCISCO: The San Francisco Brewers Guild’s 10th annual San Francisco Beer Week will take place February 9-18 at venues in the Bay Area.
TORONTO: Canada’s Competition Bureau has sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation for misleading consumers on prices for tickets to live events. BlogTO: http://bit.ly/2DQKbYw
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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.
BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.
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