TALK of the TOWN It Looks As If the Wiretapping Investigation Consuming L.A

Home , Anthony Pellicano, Bert Fields, Brad Grey

L E T T E R F R O M L . A . TALK OF THE TOWN It looks as if the wiretapping investigation consuming L.A. may bring down some of the town’s top names. From the details of Anthony Pellicano’s electronic “War Room” to the P.I.’s most damaging cases, to the impact of his divorce and his delusions of Godfather grandeur, the authors have a road map to the biggest scandal in Hollywood history BY BRYAN BURROUGH AND JOHN CONNOLLY E V

STORMY WEATHER A R

The famous Hollywood G R A

sign transformed. H

Inset, Anthony Pellicano E L T

in Los Angeles in S E W

December 2002. Y B

T E S N I

ack before everything went Most every night Pellicano, the swagger- wrong, before they discovered the wiretap ing 62-year-old “private detective to the Btranscripts and the hand grenades and the stars,’’ the man who handled sensitive jobs plastic explosives in his o! ce, before he for everyone from Michael Jackson and spent more than two years in federal prison, Tom Cruise to onetime Hollywood super- before a storm of indictments sent waves of agent Michael Ovitz, left his o! ce on the fear cascading through the Southern Califor- third floor of a Sunset Boulevard high- nia entertainment and legal communities, rise and hopped into his black, two-seat before the investigation into the ham-" sted Mercedes. He drove home to suburban intimidation of a reporter helped trigger the Oak Park, where he and his fourth wife, greatest scandal in Hollywood history, An- Katherine “Kat” Pellicano, raised their thony Pellicano was a family man. children—three daughters and an autistic

8 8 V A N I T Y F A I R P H O T O I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y M I C H A E L E L I N S L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

son named Luca. Kat was expected to have house for good, the detective began living a dark Mercedes displayed a # ashing light dinner waiting on the table, complete with in the condominium full-time. The turmoil in his rearview mirror. When Zeman rolled dessert. Afterward, she might give Pellicano in Pellicano’s private life, Kat and oth- down his window, the Mercedes pulled up a massage or have sex with him. ers speculate, made him sloppy, made beside him. The passenger rolled down his For the Pellicanos, a pleasant evening him do things he wouldn’t ordinarily do. window and rapped a pistol on the side might mean watching The Sopranos or one “He was de! nitely distracted,’’ says Rich Di- of his car. Then he pointed it at Zeman. of the Godfather movies. Ma! a rituals fas- Sabatino, a Beverly Hills private investigator “Stop,’’ he said, and pulled the trigger. cinated Pellicano, who grew up in Al Ca- who probably quali! es as Pellicano’s clos- The gun wasn’t loaded. “Bang,’’ he said. pone’s hometown of Cicero, Illinois, and est friend. “He was, in his mind, a family A few weeks later the aging detective’s once listed the son of a reputed Chicago man, and he was losing his family.’’ divorce went through, and he lost his fam- Mob boss as a creditor. In business, where In fact, the famous incident in which ily for good. Two months after that the he crafted a tough-guy persona designed to that dead ! sh was left on the hood of Los F.B.I. raided his o" ce, and nothing in Hol- appeal to a clientele weaned on Jake Gittes Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch’s silver lywood will ever, ever be the same. and Sam Spade, he was a man who playful- Audi came as Pellicano was desperately try- ly brandished baseball bats, allegedly had a ing to re-unite with Kat. Two months later, o scandal in Hollywood history can dead ! sh left on an opponent’s windshield, in August 2002, she allowed her husband compare to the Anthony Pellicano and told clients they were joining his “fam- to come home for a single Sunday, to see if Nwiretapping scandal. Not the Fatty ily’’—and no one hurt his family. He named he had really changed. In the old days, Sun- Arbuckle murder trials, of the 1920s, not his son after Don Corleone’s favored assas- day was a time of ritual in their household. the killing of Lana Turner’s lover Johnny sin, Luca Brazzi. On occasion Kat felt he Pellicano had his weekly massage promptly Stompanato, in 1958, not director Roman took the ma! oso shtick a tad far. “There at six P.M., during which the children were Polanski’s statutory rape of a 13-year-old were times when he would make my chil- ordered to remain silent, and afterward he girl, in 1977, not even the late-1970s In- dren kiss his hand like he was the Godfa- would watch The Sopranos, a rite so sol- decent Exposure embezzlement scandal ther,’’ she says. “He started to think he was emnly observed “it was like he was going to involving producer David Begelman. “Peo- Don Corleone.’’ church,’’ Kat remembers. ple out here, they’re talking about this end- Her husband could be controlling and It took only a few hours for Kat to real- lessly,’’ says media magnate Barry Diller. temperamental, according to Kat, but for ize that her husband hadn’t changed. He “If you’re talking to people in L.A. right years she put up with his moods, in part remained prickly and cold. Finally, she now, it’s the only topic.’’ because he had no one else. “I was his only says, “my oldest daughter came to me and The details are being uncovered by a con! dante,’’ Kat says. “He had no friends whispered, ‘Say the magic word, Mom, say federal investigation into the tactics of to speak of. On the weekends we rarely, the magic word.’ ” The magic word was “ass- dozens of Los Angeles attorneys, who in and I mean rarely, had any friends over, hole,” which always caused him to leave the turn represented over the years more than and they were my friends—he had none. house when Kat called him one. “Eventually, a hundred directors, producers, and movie He just wanted to be with me. It was so I said that magic word that day, he left, and stars, from Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kid- bad that for years he would not let me talk I have not regretted it since.’’ man, and Stevie Wonder to Chris Rock, on the telephone over the weekend.’’ That same August, Vanity Fair’s Ned Kevin Costner, and Demi Moore. History By 1999, after 15 years of marriage, the Zeman, who was investigating one of Pel- suggests that only a few are likely to be in- Pellicanos were squabbling. That Decem- licano’s former clients, actor Steven Seagal, dicted, but until the case concludes, a wide ber, Kat encouraged her husband to buy a was driving through Laurel Canyon when swath of Hollywood’s legal and entertain- condominium on Doheny Drive, near his o" ce, telling him to sleep over there when he was working late. A few months afterward, when she threw Pellicano out of the “THERE WASN’T A DAY THAT I DIDN’T HEAR THE WORDS ‘ANTHONY PELLICANO’ COME OUT OF BRAD [GREY]’S MOUTH,” SAYS A FORMER BRILLSTEIN-GREY EXECUTIVE.

ment establishments is living in abject fear.

;

Why? Because every disagreement in N A M

Hollywood—every divorce, every baby R E Z

born out of wedlock, every contract dis- S A K pute, every squabble between studios and Y C

talent agencies—involves attorneys, and N A ) N S for the last 20 years when things got E Y T B

nasty, L.A. lawyers turned to Antho- , T G

H T

ny Pellicano, who monitored, inves- G N I U

PLAYERS R

; tigated, intimidated, and in some O I

Brad Grey and M C A cases wiretapped their opponents. C R

Garry Shandling. U A B P

After months of anticipation, the tip ( E

C N

of this very dirty iceberg finally N O I S V P

hove into view in February, when Pelli- Y L B

K , T cano and six of his flunkies, including R F A E

two policemen, were indicted on vari- L M

9 0 J U N E 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

ous charges, including illegally accessing of Paci! c Bell, on 112 charges of wiretap- ment suggest that all three stand squarely law-enforcement da ta bases. A week later ping and of paying the policemen to ille- in the U.S. attorney’s crosshairs. the billionaire ! nancier Kirk Kerkorian’s gally access law-enforcement databases. Pellicano, several sources say, worked for longtime attorney, Terry Christensen, be- Pellicano remains in custody while rumors Grey off and on for years while Grey was at came the ! rst high-pro! le L.A. lawyer to ricochet that he will begin “ratting out’’ Brillstein-Grey. Ovitz was facing the collapse be indicted, for allegedly paying Pellica- his clients. of his post-Disney start-up, Artists Manage- no $100,000 to tap the phones of Ker- Those attorneys who used Pellicano’s ser- ment Group, when, in 2001, he reportedly korian’s ex-wife, Lisa Bonder, during the vices and who have cases known to be under hired Pellicano to probe several members of couple’s child-custody case. federal examination, or who have retained what he famously termed, in a Vanity Fair In comments made after these indict- their own attorneys, include some of the interview, a Hollywood “Gay Ma! a’’ of his ments, the U.S. Attorney’s O" ce indicated best-known lawyers in Southern California: enemies, several of whom weren’t in fact gay. that more indictments are coming, and, Dennis Wasser, the renowned Beverly Hills (Ovitz has denied this, and said he hired Pel- several people close to the investigation say, divorce attorney whose clients have includ- licano for other matters.) According to the they won’t be limited to attorneys. Clients ed Kerkorian, Spielberg, Rod Stewart, and indictments, Pellicano paid his cops to run will be indicted, too. Which is why the story Jennifer Lopez; Martin Singer, who has rep- background checks on several of these men. of Pellicano’s fall is quickly changing from resented Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Jean- But it is Fields who may have the most to fear. one man’s personal and professional immo- Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Ce- According to Kat Pellicano and several of her lation to a broader, far more sordid exposé of line Dion, and whose o" ce number is said husband’s former employees, Pellicano consid- the tactics that some of Hollywood’s storied to have appeared on Pellicano’s speed-dial ered Fields by far his most important client. power brokers have used to stay in power. list; the late Edward Masry, best known for It was Fields who, according to former “There will always be people who’ll do spearheading the class-action lawsuit that Pellicano employees, brought Pellicano into the bidding of powerful and wealthy people,’’ inspired the 2000 movie Erin Brockovich; DreamWorks Animation C.E.O. Je# rey Kat- observes Gavin DeBecker, the noted security Charles N. Shep ard, head of litigation at zenberg’s litigation with Disney’s Michael Eis- consultant. “I’m more curious about the peo- Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman Mach- ner, Tom Cruise’s defense against a gay-porn star’s sex allegations, Imagine Entertain- ment’s suit against Mike Myers, and Kevin Costner’s struggle with a di" cult British fan, “I DIDN’T PAY PELLICANO ANYTHING,” to name but a few. “He would speak to Bert just about every day,” says DiSabatino, “and RON BURKLE SAYS. “I KNOW STEVEN [BING] if he was working one of his cases, they would GAVE HIM $100,000 OR SOMETHING. talk a few times a day.’’ Until Pellicano’s indictment, in fact, I DON’T KNOW IF Fields was probably his biggest fan, serv- IT WAS FOR ME.” ing up adoring quotes for media pro! les of him. “Time after time, Anthony comes ple who do the hiring than about the guns for tin ger & Kinsella; two attorneys who have up with the witness I’m looking for,’’ Fields hire. The book wasn’t called The Luca Brazzi represented Pellicano, Victor Sherman and told a writer in 1992. “He gets me results, Story, you know. It was called The Godfather.” Donald Re; and Daniel G. Davis, a Beverly so I stick with him.’’ Hills criminal-defense attorney best known Kat Pellicano discloses a measure of how he Pellicano scandal has been simmer- for his work in the late 1980s on the McMar- tight the two men became. “Six or seven years ing since 2002, since that dead ! sh was tin pre-school child-molestation case. (None ago,’’ she says, “Anthony comes home one T thrown on Anita Busch’s Audi, along of the attorneys or their representatives would night and tells me we are going to become with a red rose and a note bearing the single comment for this article.) Jewish and that Bert Fields has arranged con- word “Stop.” At the time, Busch was writ- version classes for both of us. I said, ‘Antho- ing about Steven Seagal and Michael Ovitz, ut the “whales’’ in this investigation, the ny, with all that Italian and Catholic bullshit both Pellicano clients. By the time Ned Ze- men whose futures are now being de- of yours and my being an almost atheist from man was accosted two months later, an B bated every night at the Ivy, Mastro’s Oklahoma, why the hell do you want us to F.B.I. probe of Pellicano was under way. It Steakhouse, and Koi, are three of the most become Jewish?’ He tells me, ‘Because Bert climaxed with the raids on Pellicano’s of- powerful Hollywood figures of the last thinks it will be good for my business. Most ! ce that November, in which two hand gre- half-century: Michael S. Ovitz, the onetime of the lawyers out here are Jews, so it would nades, a wedge of C-4 plastic explosive, and head of the CAA talent agency and later be a good thing.’ I refused to participate, and thousands of pages of wiretap transcripts the president of Disney, who dominated the idea eventually went away.’’ were found, as well as recordings encrypted American ! lm deals for two decades; Brad When Pellicano was arrested, in Novem- on computer discs. An investigation that Grey, the chairman and C.E.O. of the ber 2002, Fields spearheaded an e# ort to had initially focused on the intimidation of a Paramount Motion Picture Group, previ- raise money for Pellicano’s children. Kat says journalist quickly grew into a broader probe ously head of the talent-management ! rm of her husband, “He left us with nothing. of electronic eavesdropping. Brillstein-Grey, and an executive producer That’s why I became a real-estate agent.” Pellicano was indicted on weapons charges, of The Sopranos; and Bert Fields, the 78- The president of a major studio, who says he copped a plea, and in 2003 was given a 30- year-old legal legend who has played a has given testimony before the grand jury, month sentence in the Taft Correctional In- hand in almost every signi! cant Hollywood recalls that Fields told him, “Anthony has stitution, north of Los Angeles, while fed- dispute of the last 30 years. None of these no money, and he’s not going to be able to eral authorities attempted to understand three men has been indicted, and all deny take care of his kids. A group of us should his wiretapping activities. He was poised any wrongdoing, but Fields has admitted pitch in and do something for him.” to emerge from prison in February 2006, to being a subject of the investigation, and “Subsequently, Anthony and I spoke,” when he was indicted again, this time with Grey and Ovitz have been questioned. The says the studio president, “[and] he gave me two former cops and two former employees cases cited in Pellicano’s February indict- a list of people to call.” The list, which num-

J U N E 2 0 0 6 www.vanityfair.com V A N I T Y F A I R 9 3

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0 0 C R E D I T S H E R E F R O M L E F T : B Y T O M M I H A L E K , F R A Z E R H A R R I S O N , J U S T I N S U L L I V A N , 6 E V A N A G O S T I N I ; V L A D I S Y T N I K ( H O L L Y W O O D H I L L S ) L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

boss’s flirtations and his bellicose man- that her son went to prison. When that didn’t ellicano’s big break was discovering agement style, few stayed long. “I always work, he tried the goombah bit. He told her Mike Todd’s body in a pile of leaves in thought when people left Pellicano they that he was the father of nine children and Pa Chicago cemetery that police detec- should be entitled to therapy instead of like her always worried about them. He did tives had repeatedly searched. The legendary severance,’’ says Denise Ward, a P.I. who everything he could to get her to convince me showman and producer had died at the age toiled six years for Pellicano and dated him to drop the lawsuit. He continued until the day of 48 in a plane crash in 1958, a year after he as well. “He constantly screams and yells she died from a stroke. This guy is pure evil.’’ had married the 24-year-old Elizabeth Tay- and threatens everyone who works for him. lor. In 1977 his grave was emptied by looters I would ask new employees, ‘Are you on he grandson of Sicilian immigrants, searching for a diamond ring. Pellicano was Prozac yet?’ ” Adds another former Pelli- Pellicano was born in 1944. His grand- able to lead reporters directly to the body, an cano employee, “At one point every one of T father Americanized the family name, achievement detectives found suspicious. The us in the o! ce was on anti-anxiety and/or Pellicano, to Pellican, but Anthony, proud resulting plaudits put Pellicano on the map in anti-depression medicine.’’ of his roots, restored the name to Pelli- Hollywood and, in 1983, after a di! cult di- But as di! cult as he could be, Pellicano cano as an adult. A self-described “young vorce from his second wife, Angie, he made got results. Celebrities preoccupied with their tough’’ on the streets of Cicero, he was the move to Los Angeles. images found him the perfect antidote for kicked out of high school for # ghting. He His rapid rise there was facilitated by stalkers, troublesome lovers, and the mothers joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where his # rst client, Howard Weitzman, who of accidental children. As the Louisville Slug- he was trained as a cryptographer. After hired Pellicano when Weitzman was de- ger he liked to fondle attests, Pellicano had his discharge he took a job with the Spiegel fending auto magnate John DeLorean on no qualms about using threats and intimida- catalogue in Chicago and was placed in cocaine-tra! cking charges in 1984. It was tion. The Hollywood Hills are teeming with collections, where he tracked down delin- Weitzman who introduced him to the world ex-wives, ex-lovers, journalists, and former quent customers. He was good at it. In 1969, of celebrities, as did Don Simpson—Jerry business managers who swear Pellicano at the age of 25, he decided to hang out his Bruckheimer’s partner. The wild-eyed Simp - had them followed, wiretapped, threatened, shingle as a private investigator. son, whose vast appetite for drugs and pros- roughed up, or worse. The most common From the beginning, Pellicano had pa- titutes remains a legend a decade after his stories one hears are of people having their nache. He drove a huge Lincoln Continen- death, found in Pellicano someone who homes watched and being followed in their tal, sealed his letters with monogrammed could make his sins go away. (Hence, one of Pellicano’s nicknames: the Sin Eater.) He used Pellicano when a former employee sued him for emotional distress, and in quieter “PELLICANO REPEATEDLY CALLED cases, including an incident in which a doctor friend overdosed at his Bel Air mansion. MY MOTHER AND WOULD TERRIFY HER,” “Simpson would often ramble on that ‘I’m going to get Pellicano to do this’ or ‘get SAYS BO ZENGA. “HE CONTINUED UNTIL THE Pellicano to do that,’ ” says one of “Holly- DAY SHE wood Madam” Heidi Fleiss’s former girls, DIED FROM A STROKE.” Alexandra Datig. “At the time, few of us took it seriously.’’ cars by large men—one or two claim to have wax, and hung samurai swords in his o! ce. By the early 1990s a number of lawyers been driven o" the road by them. Pellicano At various times he gave his employees and were turning to Pellicano to make their celeb- was especially good at identifying an oppo- family members necklaces bearing a small rity clients’ problems disappear. When a Brit- nent’s weak spot and attempting to exploit it. golden horn he said contained a strand of his ish tabloid linked Kevin Costner to a young To cite just one example, consider how he hair. Much of his early work involved miss- fan, Pellicano helped get the story killed be- dealt with one of Brad Grey’s adversaries, a ing persons. A 1978 article claimed that he fore it reached the U.S. media. When James writer-producer named Bo Zenga. Zenga had found 3,968 of them—which works out Woods was being bothered by Sean Young, had sued Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, to 440 people a year, more than one a day. Pellicano helped out. When Farrah Fawcett claiming they ignored a verbal producing Hyperbole was in his blood, however, which had trouble with a boyfriend, she hired Pelli- agreement for 2000’s Scary Movie. Pellica- made him a magnet for Chicago reporters, cano. When Roseanne wanted to # nd a long- no’s indictment indicates Zenga was one of who year after year # led into his o! ce—done lost daughter, Pellicano. When Stevie Won- the many Hollywood figures he allegedly in a silver-and-blood-red color scheme—to der needed information about a girlfriend, wiretapped and investigated by paying a lo- # ll their notebooks with stories. Coverage Pellicano. When O. J. Simpson—before his cal policeman to run an illegal background brought customers, including a celebrity or murder trial—reportedly had a troublesome check. With that information, Zenga be- two; at one point, Yoko Ono hired Pellicano secretary, Pellicano. “Anthony is one of those lieves, Pellicano learned that Zenga and to # nd her missing daughter, Kyoko. people, shall we say, who is a lion at the gate,’’ his sister had co-signed a mortgage on his From his earliest days, Pellicano had Don Simpson once said. “He is not a man to elderly mother’s home in New Jersey. At an obsession with electronic gadgetry. He be on the wrong side of.’’ the time, Zenga’s mother, who had diabetes, kept $200,000 worth of it in a back room was blind and con# ned to a wheelchair. he called the “bat cave’’ and claimed to ellicano could be startlingly candid “When Pellicano learned that I had that have found dozens of listening devices for about his methods. On a celebrity’s mortgage, he made a pretense call to that clients ranging from housewives to, he said, P behalf, he found that an e" ective way number, and my mother answered,’’ Zenga the government. His # rst serious publicity, to make an inconvenient lover go away was says. “He repeatedly called my mother and in fact, came in 1973, when he claimed to “counter-blackmail.’’ A girl sues an actor would terrify her. He told her that unless her have found a bug in the phone of an aide to for palimony? Pellicano would dig into her son dropped the lawsuit her daughter would Illinois secretary of state Michael J. How- past and # nd something—a prostitution ar- lose her house; she, her daughter, and grand- lett, sparking a mini-Watergate scandal that rest, drugs. Men weren’t so easy. “If you son would be homeless; and he would see to it put Pellicano on the front pages. can’t sit down with a person and reason with

9 6 V A N I T Y F A I R www.vanityfair.com J U N E 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

them,’’ Pellicano told GQ in 1992, “there applied for a trademark. Fields has said he scribed the wiretapping setup in a series is only one thing left, and that’s fear. Of didn’t work on such matters, and a spokes- of interviews with Vanity Fair, the single course, law-enforcement authorities don’t man for his ! rm has said they believed Macintosh soon became ! ve, lined up in want to hear stu# like that, know what I the software was created to aid on cases a small locked o" ce Pellicano called “the mean? But it happens every day.’’ Pellicano worked on for law-enforcement War Room.’’ Only Pellicano, Virtue, and He was Hollywood’s best-kept secret. out! ts. Kachikian had access to the room, whose Until 1993. That was the year Pellicano By early 1997, Pellicano was apparently only other furniture was a row of ! ling cab- emerged from the shadows onto the na- ready to use Telesleuth in earnest. To arrange inets. Pellicano and Virtue alone had codes tional stage, taking high-pro! le roles on the wiretaps, according to the indictment, to use the Macs. The operation had one behalf of movie executive Michael Na- he bribed two Paci! c Bell workers—one was drawback: the Macs could receive wiretap thanson, who hired him to show he “never indicted in February. A former Pellicano recordings only from their own, 310 area did business … on any level” with Heidi employee explains that additional telephone code. To tap phones in the 323, 213, 626, Fleiss, and Michael Jackson, for whom he wiring was clipped inside the box at the and 818 area codes, Virtue says, Pellicano spearheaded the defense against a 13-year- phone company. (It was never necessary to had to rent an apartment in each where he old boy’s allegations of child molestation, break into a location.) When a call came in, could stash a Macintosh and a detachable by digging up embarrassing information Telesleuth automatically recorded it and re- hard drive. When one of these computers about the boy’s family. For following and layed it to a Macintosh computer in Pellica- was used, Pellicano would switch out the monitoring scores of witnesses and report- no’s Sunset Boulevard offices. His indictment hard drive every few days, bring it to his of- ers, Pellicano received not only a Mercedes suggests that Telesleuth’s first use was against ! ce, and download the recordings. but a $2 million fee, his best payday ever. a Los Angeles real-estate developer, Robert The recordings were typically crystal clear. The Jackson case, during which Pellicano Maguire. Beginning around September 1997, The problem became the sheer volume of appeared at a press conference with How- Pellicano allegedly used the program to wire- them—thousands and thousands of telephone ard Weitzman to vilify the accuser’s family, tap Mark Hughes, the late founder of Herba- conversations, everything from a target’s spawned pro! les in The Washington Post life, who was then engaged in a nasty divorce. con! dential discussions with his attorney to and People. The 1992 GQ piece, by Peter Wil- According to former employees, the chats with his orthodontist, according to Vir- kinson, also ! red the Pellicano legend. In wiretapping operation became the secret tue. To home in on the most promising ones, it, Pellicano admitted accessing certain da- heart of Pellicano’s business—the one Kachikian’s software could graph a record- tabases “without permission.’’ Asked how unique service he could market to clients. ing’s volume; Pellicano could then go directly he handled a client’s cocaine-addled son, According to Pellicano’s former execu- to a conversation in which his subject had Pellicano answered, “I just used a bat.’’ tive vice president, Tarita Virtue, who de- raised his voice, often a sign that something That $2 million fee, however, brought Pel- licano into con$ ict with one of the few out! ts more tenacious than he: the Internal Revenue Service. According to several people close to “ANTHONY ASKED IF I WOULD him, Pellicano reported only $1 million of the fee as income. The other $1 million, Denise HELP HIM WORK ON THREE PEOPLE FROM Ward says, was reported as a loan: “I remem- CAA AND RON BURKLE,” SAYS DISABATINO. ber one morning when he opened his mail with the letter from the I.R.S., he jumped on “HE INDICATED THAT HE WAS his desk and started screaming, ‘Abandon ship! Abandon ship! We’re out of business!’ GOING TO Women were crying and screaming in the of- TAP PEOPLE’S PHONES.” ! ce. Fortunately, Rich DiSabatino was in the o" ce and pulled him aside and calmed him down. I understand it took him a few years to pay o# the I.R.S.’’

o one knows when Pellicano ! rst tried to wiretap a telephone, but Nby the mid-1990s he seems to have been attempting to perfect his technique. Around 1995 he hired a self-taught com-

; N

R puter programmer named Kevin Kachiki- O C

L an—who was also indicted in February—to A

N create software that would intercept tele- A

H phone calls. They named it Telesleuth. In T A

N November 1995, Pellicano had an attor- O J

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Y ney from Bert Fields’s ! rm apply to trade- G B

N , I

T mark the name. Later, Kachikian devel- D H L I G

I oped another program, U R B

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( Sleuth, which was able E Attorney Bert Fields and L G

A to analyze and enhance E D former CAA head E M

Y audio recordings. Again

and Disney president B S

, E

T using an attorney from Michael Ovitz. M F E A

L J Fields’s firm, Pellicano

J U N E 2 0 0 6 www.vanityfair.com V A N I T Y F A I R 9 7 L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

emotional was being discussed. Virtue did spend much of their time identifying, cajol- reports suggest—that " rst brought Pellica- most of the initial scanning. When a wiretap ing, and interviewing people who might give no’s secret world to the F.B.I.’s attention. yielded something especially useful, she says, testimony to help an attorney’s case. Yet Pel- she forwarded it to Pellicano’s computer with licano lacked the common touch—some say he saga of the Nicherie brothers and the data displayed in red lettering, signifying the patience and temperament—to soothe the Shafrir family is one of those “only that it was urgent. and coddle potential witnesses. When he T in L.A.’’ tales that make your head needed “street work,’’ Denise Ward handled hurt. According to a lawsuit and people n most cases, Virtue asserts, the detective it. “Anthony hadn’t been out in the " eld for involved in the case, the story is a complex refrained from telling attorneys where the years,’’ says Rich DiSabatino. “He literally one, including the following allegations: Iwiretapped information came from. He didn’t know his way around town.’’ Rather Daniel and Abner Nicherie were Israeli would begin a briefing by saying, “My sources than work the " eld, Pellicano cut corners by con men, who, in the late 1990s, targeted tell me . . . ’’ or “It’s been brought to my atten- wiretapping. First-person information could a fellow Israeli, Ami Shafrir, who owned tion . . . ’’ But he apparently wasn’t always so be obtained faster and was inherently more several Beverly Hills o# ce buildings. Pos- careful; the indictment of Terry Christensen reliable than that gotten from third par- ing as legitimate businessmen, they suc- cites numerous conversations in which Pel- ties. Wiretapping also gave Pellicano ready ceeded not only in swindling Shafrir out of licano told Christensen exactly what he was access to a trove of personal information, around $40 million—but also in persuad- doing. Besides, Pellicano liked to brag, and in including credit-card numbers and a vari- ing his wife, Sarit, to work alongside them, time, any number of his peers and clients say, ety of secret passwords. “We had anything convincing her that Ami was a criminal, he told them he was tapping telephones. “Ev- we wanted,’’ says a former employee. “We according to a lawsuit " led by Ami. eryone knew that Pellicano was constantly tap- could do anything we wanted to you.’’ When Ami sued, the Nicheries respond- ping people,’’ says Jack Palladino. “He would The only problem, unfortunately, was that ed with a barrage of legal artillery, eventual- also illegally tape his own clients and their at- Pellicano’s eavesdropping operation was 100 ly hiring 40 separate Los Angeles attorneys torneys and then play tape recordings of those percent illegal. “In our business, wiretapping to countersue. After a referral from one of conversations to impress [them].’’ is a shortcut,’’ says Di Sabatino. “To suicide.’’ these lawyers, Victor Sherman, they alleged- There are many in Hollywood who say Pellicano also used a second shortcut: the ly paid Pellicano $50,000 to wiretap Ami. Pellicano bragged to them of his wiretap- bribes he allegedly paid policemen to search Pellicano told the Nicheries he could use customized electronics to cause interference on Ami’s cell phone, which would force him to use the wiretapped landline more often. “PELLICANO APPEARED TO BE EVERYWHERE The Nicheries understood Ami was being bugged, although Pellicano initially refused ALL AT ONCE. WE WERE LITIGATING THIS to let them listen in. But the Nicheries were eventually given CASE, AND . . . SUDDENLY HE’S IN TOUCH access to the recordings because Ami s ome - WITH times spoke in Hebrew, and Pellicano couldn’t ALL OUR WITNESSES.” understand a word. He made the two brothers swear that what they heard would remain ping prowess. A woman named Corinne law-enforcement databases. One, a Los An- con" dential. On several occasions they ar- Cli! ord, a " gure in a child-support case geles cop named Mark Arneson—also in- rived at Pellicano’s o# ce after hours, allow- Pellicano worked on for Dennis Wasser, de- dicted in February—became a " xture in Pel- ing themselves to be frisked and turning over scribes an evening in 2003 when the detec- licano’s cases, according to the indictment. their cellular phones. Unbeknownst to Pel- tive tried to seduce her at his condominium. Arneson was “an arrogant guy, and I told licano, however, Daniel Nicherie had secret- After an unsuccessful bid to get her to watch Anthony just that,’’ says DiSabatino. “Pelli- ed a tiny cell phone in his sock, which he a video of certain celebrities having sex, she cano would call him, and the guy had the used to allow Ami’s wife, Sarit, to listen in says, Pellicano claimed he had bugged Ni- balls to send him information that he had il- on the wiretap recordings. cole Kidman and Kirk Kerkorian’s wife— legally obtained with his name and police Sarit Shafrir, a stylish woman in her 50s, both involved in cases he had also worked identi" cation right on top. I once saw a report heard dozens of Ami’s conversations this on. “I’m the No. 1 private eye in the world,’’ from Arneson to Pellicano, and it said, ‘Sgt. way; sometimes the Nicheries would call from Pellicano boasted, according to Cli! ord. “I Mark Arneson, O# cial Inquiry.’ ” (Arneson Pellicano’s o# ce and play back a tape, other made Dennis Wasser’s career.’’ did not respond to repeated phone calls.) times they would leave a recording of the In the face of his own indiscretions, Pel- There in his camera-lined bunker, high wiretap on her answering machine. In time, licano re-doubled his security systems to above Sunset Boulevard, listening with his the Nicheries and Pellicano began speaking safeguard the War Room. There were se- black headphones to wiretaps and alleged- of ways to put Ami in jail by framing him; curity cameras throughout the o# ce. Inter- ly paying bribes to policemen and Pac Bell one involved planting cocaine in the trunk of nal doors could be opened only with pass workers, Pellicano should have been home his car and having a Beverly Hills policeman codes. “Even his own wife was not allowed free. If he had been smarter, he probably on Pellicano’s payroll pull him over. into the o# ce,’’ one employee remembers. could have gone on wiretapping half of It was then, people familiar with Sarit’s sto- “I once let her and Luca into the o# ce. Hollywood for years to come. Maybe it ry say, that she began having second thoughts Pellicano had headphones on and the kid was hubris. Maybe it was losing his family. about the Nicheries. Sensing this, the brothers slapped his father in the head. Pellicano But after Kat asked for a divorce, in early threatened her, telling her she and her two went crazy, screaming, ‘Who the fuck let 2000, signs of carelessness crept into Pel- children could be “barbecued’’ when their these people in here?’ ” licano’s operation. On one notable oc casion, home went up in flames. Daniel Nicherie em- Pellicano’s reliance on wiretapping is he is said to have allowed a pair of outsiders phasized that there was nothing Sarit could do viewed by several of his peers as an admis- into the War Room to listen to wiretaps. against them; Daniel told her that Pellicano sion of his greatest weakness. Modern in- It was this incident, it turns out—and not had his offices wired with plastic explosives. vestigators work mostly for attorneys and the " sh on Anita Busch’s Audi, as previous If she told the authorities about the wiretap-

9 8 V A N I T Y F A I R www.vanityfair.com J U N E 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R F R O M L . A .

ping operation, a single cell-phone call, Daniel analyze federal wiretaps during the Arizona Shafrir’s accusations) when that fateful " sh claimed, would allow Pellicano to blow up all narcotics-tra! cking trial of New York Ma" a landed on Anita Busch’s Audi—a job, it’s the evidence. (Attorneys for the Nicheries did hit man Sammy “the Bull’’ Gravano. At his been shown, carried out by a Pellicano # un- not respond to calls for comment.) home Pellicano kept a collection of plaques ky named Alexander Proctor. Busch had just After months of worrying, Sarit decided and glowing letters from F.B.I. o! cials. moved to the Los Angeles Times, after co- to turn on Pellicano and the Nicheries and “We worked for the F.B.I. on a number authoring six articles about Michael Ovitz’s contact the F.B.I. But she was so afraid of of cases,’’ says a onetime Pellicano employee. failing Artists Management Group for The Pellicano’s capabilities she # ew to Israel in “I [once] told Pellicano, ‘We’re doing bad New York Times. She believed from the out- order to telephone the bureau’s L.A. o! ce shit in here. Aren’t you worried that [F.B.I. set the warning was Pellicano’s handiwork. from a foreign country. When she returned, agents] may have slipped a bug in?’ He in August 2001, she met an agent in a pub- said, ‘I’m not worried about it!’ ” he F.B.I. quickly identi" ed and detained lic place: the Beverly Hills Public Library. “Everyone knew what he was doing,’’ says Proctor, who claimed responsibility )

There, hidden deep in the stacks, she told a person involved in the Shafrir case. “But and said Pellicano had hired him. The E T N O

the agent everything she knew about Pellica- not the feds. The feds didn’t have a clue.’’ bureau’s initial interest in Pellicano was the L L A

no’s wiretapping system. To her amazement, The longer his wiretapping activities went Busch incident; only as agents began inter- T S (

the agent appeared skeptical. “He said it undiscovered—or at least unpunished—the viewing former employees and Pellicano A N

was impossible,’’ says a person familiar with more brazen Pellicano became. Kat and targets did the " rst hints of illegal wiretap- A M R

the story, “that it would take a ‘tremendous his closest intimates, Rich DiSabatino and ping start to interest them. Pellicano quickly E G

infrastructure’ to do something like that.’’ Denise Ward, believe his marital troubles caught wind of the F.B.I. investigation and L E A

The agent seemed unconvinced even distracted him. “He was devastated when I did what he could to stop it. H C I

when Sarit described a wiretapped con- asked him for the divorce,’’ Kat asserts. “He In time, though, Pellicano saw the hand- M

, )

versation she had heard between Ami and really became unglued. He lost it.’’ As he at- writing on the wall. After being questioned S E E

another F.B.I. agent, who was investigating tempted to re-unite with Kat, Pellicano’s by the F.B.I., he called in Rich DiSabatino R T (

Ami’s complaints about the Nic heries. Sarit world shrank. He ate most nights, often and handed him $25,000 worth of electron- T N I

suggested that the F.B.I. send in someone with Ward or DiSabatino, at one of four res- ics, including oscilloscopes. “I’m cleaning A F

undercover. “Do what I did,’’ she insisted. taurants, including Le Dome and Mastro’s. house before [the F.B.I.] comes back,’’ he N A “Go to Victor Sherman—he’ll get you to “He never traveled more than a half a mile said, according to DiSabatino. He was ar- R G

, )

Pellicano and you can see the whole set- from his o! ce,’’ Ward asserts. rested after the F.B.I. raids that uncovered R E

up!’’ The agent scribbled down everything “It bothered him about his kids—he lost the weapons in November. At a bail hear- N T S

she said. But as Sarit waited for an F.B.I. his older kids [Pellicano’s " ve children from ing, most of his employees showed up, as O C (

raid on Pellicano’s o! ces in the coming earlier marriages], and he didn’t want to lose did two longtime clients, Dennis Wasser and I N I months, nothing happened. Nothing at all. the four younger ones,’’ says DiSabatino. Martin Singer. Bert Fields even wrote a let- T S O

“Once his divorce came into play, there were ter to the judge indicating Pellicano wasn’t a G A

o one is suggesting that the F.B.I. “cov- de" nitely times when he realized that, ‘Hey, # ight risk. By then, however, several people, N A V

ered up’’ for Pellicano, but the bureau’s I’m not as young as I used to be. I can’t go including Tarita Virtue, Denise Ward, a E

Y B

skepticism was probably in# uenced by and hit on women.’ He constantly said that, technical expert named Wayne Reynolds, S

N H

the perception that Pellicano was in some that he looked in the mirror and saw a 25- and at least two other o! ce assistants, were P A ways “one of their own.’’ Pellicano had been year-old and everyone else saw a 55-year-old.’’ cooperating with the F.B.I. Virtue went into R G O handling audio-analysis tasks—cleaning up, Pellicano’s midlife crisis was gathering hiding, but Pellicano phoned her parents. T O H

amplifying, and identifying legal wiretaps— steam in June 2002 (nine months after Sarit “I know your daughter’s testifying,’’ he told P on F.B.I. cases since the mid-1990s. In 1997 he served as an expert witness for the federal prosecution of a murderer in Miami. As THE $2 MILLION FEE [FROM late as 2001 the F.B.I. retained Pellicano to MICHAEL JACKSON] BROUGHT PELLICANO INTO CONFLICT WITH AN OUTFIT MORE TENACIOUS THAN HE: THE I.R.S.

NEED TO KNOW Onetime Pellicano clients Kevin Costner, Michael Jackson, and Sylvester Stallone.

01 0 0 V A N II T Y F A II RR wwwwww..vvaanniittyyffaairi.rc.coomm J U N E 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R F R O M L . A . them, according to someone familiar with nor that his interest in Busch had spurred turn, reached out to Pellicano via a mutual the conversation. “That’s a damn shame.’’ it. Prosecutors, however, are known to be friend, the producer Steve Bing, who had During two separate searches, F.B.I. examining whether Ovitz was behind the reportedly hired Pellicano during a much- agents had invaded Pellicano’s War Room intimidation of Busch. Initially, speculation publicized paternity dispute with the actress and carted out 11 computers, including the had centered on Steven Seagal, but the F.B.I. Elizabeth Hurley. Bing arranged a meeting, ! ve Macs, 23 external hard drives, a Palm has all but cleared the actor of involvement. and Pellicano agreed to refrain from wire- V digital assistant, 52 diskettes, 34 Zip At least two witnesses have been questioned tapping Burkle. In time the two men struck drives, 92 CD-ROMs, and two DVDs. An by the grand jury about Ovitz’s links to the up a kind of friendship. At one point, Pel- F.B.I. agent named Elizabeth Rios assem- incident. (The U.S. attorney, Dan Saunders, licano and his children spent a weekend at bled a team to begin inspecting and copy- declined to con! rm whether Ovitz was a Burkle’s weekend retreat in La Jolla. Their ing everything that was seized. It was an subject of the investigation, saying, “We do friendship suggests a possible solution to arduous task. Copying a single hard drive not comment about ongoing investigations.’’) one of the case’s minor mysteries—an expla- took at least 10 hours. Some took as long Marshall Grossman, Ovitz’s lawyer, denies nation for some of the $200,000 the F.B.I. as two days. Many of the diskettes were that Ovitz is being investigated and says he found in Pellicano’s safe. encrypted, which made them even harder had no connection with the crime, claiming, According to Burkle, Pellicano ap- to decipher. It took months for the F.B.I. “At the time he allegedly hired a third party proached him with a proposal just days agents to digest it all, but when they did, it to threaten Ms. Busch, Mr. Pellicano was not before he went to prison. He o# ered his was obvious to everyone involved that they in the employ of Michael Ovitz.’’ services, promising to do “anything,’’ if had found the mother lode. No previous accounts of Ovitz’s rela- Burkle would give him money. When Burkle tionship with Pellicano suggest that the two declined, Pellicano said his decision not to he indictments against Pellicano, worked together before 2001. But, accord- wiretap Burkle had cost him a $200,000 fee which list more than 112 instances in ing to a former Pellicano employee, Pellica- from Ovitz and Fields. He demanded that T which the private detective allegedly no had done personal work for Ovitz since Burkle make up for the lost money. Burkle engaged in wiretapping or illegally access- at least 1996. “When Ovitz was leaving says he refused. But Bing did pay Pellicano ing law-enforcement databases, provide a Disney,’’ this employee says, “he became between $100,000 and $200,000 around the road map of the cases the U.S. attorney is Anthony’s biggest interest, meaning most same time, according to Burkle. “I didn’t pay investigating. Those who were wiretapped, important client. They were good friends Pellicano anything,’’ Burkle says. “I know the indictments allege, run the gamut from and would speak to each other on a daily Steven gave him $100,000 or something like that. I don’t know if it was for me or for what Pellicano did for Steven in the Liz Hurley paternity case.’’ Bing declined repeated requests “ANTHONY TELLS ME WE ARE to be interviewed for this story.

GOING TO BECOME JEWISH he Pellicano indictments refer to two AND THAT BERT FIELDS HAS ARRANGED cases Pellicano worked on Brad Grey’s T behalf: legal battles involving Bo Zenga CONVERSION CLASSES,” and the comedian Garry Shandling. But SAYS KAT. former associates of both men say Grey’s dealings with Pellicano were far more exten- minnows such as Monika Zsibrita, a model basis. Ovitz would often come to the o" ce, sive. A former Brillstein-Grey executive says who unsuccessfully claimed that the come- and Anthony helped him set up his o" ce in Grey used Pellicano for work on behalf of dian Chris Rock had fathered her child, to Santa Monica. It went on for months, with any number of his clients, including Brad ! sh as large as Sylvester Stallone. Anthony going out to Ovitz’s o" ce almost Pitt, Adam Sandler, and the late Chris Far- One of the most signi! cant cases now daily. Anthony helped install the security ley. “There wasn’t a day that I didn’t hear under scrutiny involves Michael Ovitz’s and phone systems at Ovitz’s o" ce.’’ the words ‘Anthony Pellicano’ come out complaints against his “enemies,’’ in which of Brad’s mouth,’’ this executive says. “He Pellicano began to investigate them in 2001; ne facet of Pellicano’s work for Ovitz would be using him for this client or that cli- the indictments allege that Pellicano paid in 2001 involved the billionaire inves- ent. This one had a problem that only Tony policemen to run background checks on O tor Ron Burkle, who was threatening could solve. It was disgusting. Here is this six people, including talent agents Bryan to sue Ovitz over a failed Internet venture. big management ! rm and they’re using a Lourd and Kevin Huvane of CAA (motor- Pellicano, who was near the height of his street thug to clean up problems for some of vehicle reco rds searched, August 2001); personal troubles at the time, turned to the biggest stars in Hollywood.’’ New York Times reporter Bernard Wein- Rich DiSabatino for help. “Anthony called An amended lawsuit filed by Zenga in raub (F.B.I. database, May 2002); Arthur me and asked me to work on a case with March—against Grey, Pellicano, Bert Fields, Bernier, a former employee who had sued him; it had come from Bert Fields,’’ says and Fields’s ! rm, Greenberg Glusker—gives Ovitz for wrongful termination (F.B.I. DiSabatino. “He asked if I would help him a sense of how Pellicano’s wiretaps might database, May 2002); and James Casey, work on three people from CAA and Ron have helped Grey in business. The wiretap- who had sued for a referral fee he felt he Burkle. He told me that my end could be ping had come into play in the earlier law- was owed by the ! rm. Ovitz, through his as much as $100,000. He indicated that he suit Zenga ! led against Grey over Zenga’s attorney, has denied any knowledge of was going to tap people’s phones. I passed. claim that he was entitled to pro! ts from these searches. I didn’t need that grief in my life.’’ Scary Movie. One day after Zenga’s attorneys The one Ovitz “enemy’’ Pellicano is known In fact, DiSabatino was alarmed. He was put Grey through a grueling three-day depo- to have wiretapped was Anita Busch, whose friends with Kevin Huvane, at CAA, and sition, in February 2001, the new suit alleges, phone remained compromised up until the with one of Burkle’s security men. He says Pellicano began doing illegal background month of the F.B.I. raids. However, there is he called both men and warned them that checks on Zenga and one of his attorneys. no evidence that Ovitz knew of the wiretap, their phones might be tapped. Burkle, in According to the suit, on February 14,

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Pellicano began circulating summaries of on the other side of a case you need to be judge for a reco rd $320,000 a month in child Zenga’s private conversations with his own concerned about your privacy. The nature support, including $6,000 a month for house lawyer—information he presumably received of whether your garbage is being stolen. flowers and $150,000 a month for private-jet from a wiretap on Zenga’s telephone. Whether or not listening devices are placed. travel. Her request was undermined, however, The taps gave Grey a critical advantage For that reason, I recommended that [Shan- when a test indicated that Kirk was not her in the litigation, the new suit alleges. When dling] be certain that the privacy of his daughter’s biological father. A judge eventu- Zenga criticized his partner Stacy Codikow home and o" ce were assured.’’ ally ordered Kerkorian to pay Bonder only in one conversation, the suit alleges, Grey’s Unlike some Fields clients, who never $50,316 a month. attorneys were able to use the information to dealt directly with Pellicano, Grey became The proceedings were still raging, however, drive a wedge between Codikow and Zen- personally involved. At the height of their when in early 2002 Kerkorian’s attorney Terry ga—a split that eventually caused Codikow business relationship, a former Pellicano Christensen allegedly began paying Pellicano to reverse critical testimony that, Zenga’s at- employee says, “Grey and Pellicano would to wiretap Bonder. Christensen was indicted torneys say, ultimately caused Zenga to lose be on the telephone to each other at least in February, and the indictment alleges he the lawsuit against Grey. once a day, every day.’’ (A spokesman for knew what Pellicano was doing. It contains “Pellicano appeared to be everywhere all at Grey maintains that Grey was “casually numerous verbatim quotations from Chris- once,” says Zenga’s attorney, Gregory Dovel. acquainted with Pellicano. Mr. Grey never tensen, a sure sign that, as Pellicano is said to “We were litigating this case, and he’s brought hired Pellicano or recommended to his cli- have done with other attorneys, he had record- in—suddenly he’s in touch with all our wit- ents … that they hire him. Mr. Grey had no ed conversations with Christensen. In these nes ses. It was like living in an upside-down knowledge of any illegal activity by Mr. Pel- talks, the indictment alleges, the two candidly world. Stacy Codikow had been a friend of Bo licano.”) According to another former em- discussed the wiretapping operation, with Pel- Zenga’s for years. She testi! ed one way, and ployee, Pellicano once gave Grey an eight- licano admonishing Christensen at one point then after Pellicano’s involvement she was say- inch-long, silver-plated switchblade knife for to “be very careful about this, because there is only one way for me to know this.” In another talk, on April 28, 2002, Pelli- cano told Christensen about a recorded con- “[OVITZ] BECAME ANTHONY’S versation between Bonder and her lawyers. “I’m hearing her talk to Kirk, too,’’ Pellicano MOST IMPORTANT CLIENT,” SAYS A FORMER says. “That’s not for attribution, I mean dis- PELLICANO EMPLOYEE. “THEY WOULD SPEAK TO tribution, but I’m hearing both of them, I’m hearing all of it, the whole nine yards.’’ EACH OTHER ON After his indictment, Christensen issued a A DAILY BASIS.” statement that didn’t deny his involvement but suggested that he had resorted to extreme mea- ing the exact opposite. Much of what she was Christmas, prompting Grey to tell a fellow sures because Kerkorian had been receiving saying was so unsupported that she eventually executive, “That’s Tony for you. You know death threats. “Terry Christensen never heard backtracked from it.” Codikow didn’t return how crazy he can be.” Grey admired Pel- wiretapped conversations,’’ his attorney said. phone calls seeking comment for this article. licano so much, the former Brillstein-Grey “He never got a transcript of a wiretapped executive says, that, when James Gandol! ni conversation. All he had to go on was what handling and Grey, his longtime man- brie# y walked o$ the set of The Sopranos in Pellicano was telling him over the phone.’’ ager, fell out in 1998 when Shandling a salary dispute, Grey considered replacing Ssued him for $100 million, alleging the hit HBO drama with a show based on hen there’s Tom Cruise. Cruise was rep- that Grey cheated him out of earnings from Pellicano’s life. A screenwriter named Ann resented by Wasser (who was known his hit comedy, The Larry Sanders Show. Biderman was hired to write a script. The T to have hired Pellicano in the past) dur- Grey countersued. He hired Bert Fields proj ect died, however, when Gandol! ni ing Cruise’s 2001 divorce proceedings with to handle the litigation, and Fields brought returned and Pellicano and Biderman fell Nicole Kidman. Kidman used lawyer Sorrell in Pellicano. Between January and March out over writing credits and fees. Trope and Rich DiSabatino. DiSabatino had 1999, the indictment alleges, Pellicano had The Grey-Shandling litigation was set- Kidman’s telephones regularly swept for bugs, a policeman run unauthorized background tled in July 1999, when Grey agreed to pay and went as far as installing an encryption de- checks on Shandling, a onetime girlfriend Shandling more than $10 million. Three vice to foil wiretapping attempts. Kidman, of his, his personal assistant, his business years later, when the F.B.I. raided Pellicano’s who remained wary, took to joking during manager, and a friend, the actor Kevin Nea- o" ces, agents found a trove of information calls with friends, “So, Tom, are you listening? lon. Several sources say Shandling and oth- about Shandling and his associates. Shan- Am I saying what you want me to say?’’ ers were wiretapped as well. dling and others have now testi! ed before According to people in the Kidman At the time, Shandling had hired Gavin the Pellicano grand jury. camp, Pellicano remained relatively quiet DeBecker to aid in his defense, and De- during the proceedings. “The one thing I Becker warned the actor about Fields and nother name that surfaces in the inves- was aware of was we started seeing articles Pellicano. “It is pro forma for you to advise tigation is Kirk Kerkorian, the 89-year- in The National Enquirer on Nicole,’’ says clients to conduct sweeps of their telephones A old billionaire who once owned MGM, one Kidman adviser. “We assumed at the in matters in which Bert Fields is involved is the largest shareholder in General Motors, time that was Pellicano. The Enquirer was as the opposing counsel,’’ DeBecker said in and has launched unsuccessful takeover at- always his tabloid of choice.’’ a deposition. When asked to explain, De- tempts against Chrysler and other major Several reports indicate that during their Becker answered, “I advise clients of mine American companies. An avid tennis player, raid on Pellicano’s o" ces F.B.I. agents found to look out for their overall privacy during he had been dating a former tennis pro named a recording of Kidman talking with Cruise. suits with Bert Fields because he engages Lisa Bonder for 11 years when, in 1997, she be- DiSabatino has said this recording must have and is widely known to use [Pellicano], who came pregnant. The subsequent marriage last- come from Cruise’s telephone, but Kidman uses extra-legal tactics. When you have him ed 28 days. In 1999, Bonder asked a California is said to disagree. “For some reason Ni-

1 0 2 V A N I T Y F A I R www.vanityfair.com J U N E 2 0 0 6 L E T T E R F R O M L . A . cole really wants to believe her phone was what prompted it remains unclear. According liceman, is said to be trying to cut a deal of tapped,’’ says a person who worked on the to investigator Paul Barresi, a onetime porn his own. Two years ago, Arneson met with case. Kidman has been questioned by the performer who handled several freelance as- prosecutors for a “queen for a day” (which F.B.I. A senior F.B.I. agent has also inter- signments for Pellicano, Pellicano had a ven- means whatever he told them could not later viewed Cruise, sources say. detta against Stallone. “Pellicano hired me be used against him). When he failed to give on two occasions to ! nd dirt on Stallone,’’ direct evidence about any of the lawyers un- lso mentioned in the indictments is Barresi says. “The ! rst time was in 1995 or der scrutiny, the prosecutors passed on a Taylor Thomson, heiress to a Canadian ’96 and then again in late 2001.’’ plea deal with him. A publishing fortune valued by Forbes in “When you’re a friend of his, you’re fam- More than a dozen attorneys, meanwhile, 2003 at $14 billion, who hired Bert Fields to ily,’’ Stallone said of Pellicano in 1993. “When are preparing civil lawsuits against Pellicano negotiate the custody of her child with Mi- you’re not, you’ve got problems.’’ and a number of the lawyers he worked with, chael Kolesa in 2001. Her daughter’s nanny, In another twist to the already bizar re as well as their firms. Anita Busch has already a twentysomething woman named Pamela world of Anthony Pellicano, John Mc Tiernan, sued Pellicano, as has Bo Zenga, as has Keith Miller, was drawn into the contentious pro- director of the hit ! lms Die Hard and The Carradine, who alleges Pellicano harassed ceedings when she aired unfavorable opinions Hunt for Red October, pleaded guilty, in a him during his 1993 divorce, as has a woman of Thomson’s child-raising habits to Kolesa. criminal-information case ! led by the U.S. named Erin Finn, who was wiretapped by her That’s when Fields brought in Pellicano. attorney, to lying to F.B.I. agents about hav- ex-boyfriend Hollywood Records president “These people ruined Miller’s life,’’ her ing had Pellicano wiretap producer Charles Robert Pfeifer. Pfeifer pleaded guilty in April attorney, Neville Johnson, says of Pellicano Roven (Three Kings, Batman Begins). Los An- and faces up to 10 years in prison. “Lawsuits and Fields. “Whenever she would get a new geles attorney Kevin McDermott explained ! led by Pellicano’s victims will be sprouting nanny job, she would be let go. Within weeks that, in all probability, McTiernan is cooper- up like tulips in springtime,’’ predicts Kevin of her being hired by a member of the [Mi- ating with the investigation. “When you ! le McDermott. “Not only will they be suing chael] Douglas family, she was let go. The an information as opposed to an indictment, Pellicano but they will sue the L.A.P.D., the same thing happened when she went to work it’s a sure sign that the perp has agreed to co- telephone company, the lawyers who hired for [producer] Jon Peters. Pellicano would operate,” says McDermott, “because, legally, Pellicano, and in all probability the clients. stalk her, going so far as to sit directly behind it’s easier to work out a deal with the court.” This is going to get very ugly.’’ Much of the ugliness is likely to be di- rected at Bert Fields’s ! rm, Greenberg Glus- ker. Already Hollywood is abuzz that an “PELLICANO HIRED ME ON TWO avalanche of coming lawsuits could force OCCASIONS TO FIND DIRT ON STALLONE,” the ! rm into bankruptcy. The problem is the sheer number of conversations Pellicano BARRESI SAYS. “IN 1995 OR ’96 may have illegally wiretapped. Bo Zenga’s lawsuit, which includes Greenberg Glusker AND THEN AGAIN as a defendant, cites nearly 1,600 telephone IN LATE 2001.” calls Pellicano allegedly recorded at the behest of Fields and ! ve other Greenberg her in a movie theater. She was wiretapped During his contentious 1997 divorce Glusker partners. Under California law, and members of her family had their private from Donna Dubrow, McTiernan was each incident carries a minimum ! ne of information illegally accessed, including her represented by Dennis Wasser, and later $5,000, meaning Greenberg Glusker could uncle, a minister in Bakers! eld. They went so by Robert J. Nachshin, who has also been face potential ! nes of at least $8 million— far as to take photos of her when she was with identi! ed as having hired Pellicano in the just in the Zenga litigation. the children she had been hired to watch. past. Dubrow has stated that she believes And that’s before any criminal penalties. Needless to say, not many wealthy [parents] McTiernan hired Pellicano during their A series of talks have taken place in recent want to keep a nanny who is [being photo- divorce. A former employee of Pellicano’s weeks among the ! rm, Fields, and the U.S. graphed with] their children.’’ told Vanity Fair, “In 1997–98, McT iernan Attorney’s O" ce. The ! rm’s attorney in the Pamela Miller testi! ed before the Pelli- would often come into the o" ce.” case, Brian Sun, declines to comment on cano grand jury. these talks, but several sources say they’re uch of Hollywood is now holding its aimed at negotiating some kind of settlement ne of the best-known actors believed breath awaiting a new round of fed- for Fields himself. (Pellicano, Ovitz, Fields, to have been wiretapped is Sylvester Meral indictments, which could come Grey, McTiernan, and the attorneys men- OStallone. This allegedly happened after any day. The investigation shows no sign of tioned in this story declined to comment.) Stallone sued Kenneth Starr, his former busi- slowing. Late last fall, after assigning only The wild card in all this is Pellicano, who ness manager, in February 2002, alleging that three agents to the case for the previous two remains behind bars at the West Valley Deten- Starr’s advice to hold 3.9 million shares of fal- years, the F.B.I. formed a Pellicano task force. tion Center, in San Bernardino County. Will tering Planet Hollywood stock cost Stallone as Twenty agents are now working the case full- he incriminate Fields or other clients? The bet- much as $10 million. Starr hired Bert Fields, time. Several sources say the lead agent, a ting here is that he won’t break his personal who brought in Pellicano. The indictments dour but dogged veteran named Stan Ornel- vow of omertà—the Sicilian vow of silence. After allege that Pellicano began wiretapping one las, has actually been seen smiling of late. all, he has already served more than 30 months of Stallone’s telephones within weeks of the Many of Pellicano’s former employees in prison without turning on a single client. lawsuit’s ! ling. (Both Stallone’s publicist and are now cooperating with the authorities. So “I could have helped myself if I had named his attorney declined comment on the case.) is his latest girlfriend, Sandra Carradine, 58, names,’’ Pellicano told the New York Post from The allegation is unusual because Stallone the actor Keith Carradine’s ex-wife; she was prison in 2003. “But that’s not me. Me, I pro- was known to have employed Pellicano on at indicted in January, pleaded guilty to two tect my people. [The feds] wanted to get me, least one case going back to the late 1980s. At counts of perjury, and is now helping the and because I’d never give up my client, they some point the two had a falling-out, though F.B.I. Mark Arneson, the Los Angeles po- got me. I have to accept responsibility.” #

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