One of the most bizarre stories I came across while researching this book came from an L.A. model who spent every cent she had to attend the party. It took her years to make it to Laliberté’s guest list, but she got in after befriending a Hollywood producer whom she knew had been friends with Laliberté. She said she bought four designer outfits, got her hair straightened at the same Beverly Hills salon where Paris Hilton gets her hair done, and bought herself a $6,000 boob job. All that before airfare, hotel, and travel money. She says she spent over $20,000 in all. She remembers showing up to Laliberté’s party with scars and red marks on her remodelled chest.
“I looked at it as an opportunity of a lifetime,” she says. “I didn’t want to go and not turn heads. I invested all the money I had and maxed out all my credit cards. When I arrived at the party it was everything and more than I expected. I met Guy, and he was so incredibly down to earth. When it was over, reality sank in. I had just gone broke over this one crazy night. When I returned to L.A., I couldn’t pay off my debts and was just about to declare personal bankruptcy.
“A couple of weeks later,” she says, “a man I had exchanged business cards with at the party called me. He had told me that he produced commercials for a major network, and I talked to him for around an hour about how I wanted to break into the acting business. When he called me in L.A. he asked me to audition for a national TV ad for a new hair product company. I ended up getting the gig and getting paid enough to clear my debts and then some. A couple of months later I landed a network TV pilot. My career started taking off because I took the risk of flying to Montreal to attend the party. What looked like a potentially disastrous decision turned into the greatest career move I ever made.”
While thousands of people have enjoyed the extravagance of Laliberté’s renowned parties, many others have wondered how much Laliberté doled out for them. Rumours on the Internet suggest he spends from hundreds of thousands all the way to $10 million. A former Cirque executive claims Laliberté’s parties were budgeted into Cirque’s marketing plans. He claims the parties usually cost $3 million; nevertheless a wise investment on Laliberté’s part.
“No matter how amazing the parties were, I know for a fact that they would never have taken place if Guy did not see a big return on the investment,” the former executive says. “Not to say I want to take any credit away from him. He’s a master party thrower—better than Hugh Hefner, better than any Oscar party.”
How does he make money off it? It’s simple: he invites some of the most influential and richest people in the world and treats them like kings. They go back to their countries and spread the word about how nice and incredible Guy is. When Cirque tours their respective countries they open every door for Guy, which in turn guarantees Cirque success there. It’s a brilliant marketing and networking plan, maybe the most elaborate ever in the entertainment business.
“Every time Guy has a premiere, he invests a lot in the opening night party,” the former Cirque executive says. “It’s a brilliant marketing strategy. There’s no media person who attends one of these events that will ever dare to write a bad word about Cirque du Soleil. They’d never get invited back. Guy makes it a privilege to get into his private openings, and the people invited must show respect if they hope to attend the next one. Amazingly, when Guy dies, I don’t know if he’ll be remembered more for creating Cirque du Soleil or for his incredible parties. Either way, I don’t think anyone will ever match him on either level.”
Excerpted from Guy Laliberté: The Fabulous Story of the Creator of Cirque du Soleil by permission of Transit Publishing. Copyright © Ian Halperin, 2009.
