Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Bad enough that the mayor and his wife can't go to the movies without being reported on, as we noted yesterday. Now someone else who claims to have been at the Arclight on Saturday night says the Defamer correspondent who dished on the Villaraigosas erred on certain factual, uh, niceties. Claudia Vaughn emails:
Kevin,I want to set the record straight. I, too, was in the ArcLight theater that night seeing the film "Capote." In fact, I'm the one referred to in that [Defamer] post, the woman who dropped her popcorn upon spotting the mayor and his wife. And yes, before the lights dimmed, I did indeed have a conversation about Oscar nominated films and actors with the mayor and his wife.
Eavesdropping on a conversation and then reporting it to a gossip rag is only good if you manage to get your facts right. This so called Defamer correspondent needs a class in Eavesdropping 101, especially since he and his wife were sitting right next to the Villaraigosas (well within earshot).
First off, Mayor Villaraigosa was in the company of his wife, Corina. Any one who follows the local scene, even just a little, would have recognized her. Let's not mention the fact that she actually introduced herself to me.
Second, the mayor did not tell me he "LOVED" "Brokeback Mountain" as was reported. I responded to his query about which film I felt was worthy of best picture. I said I really liked "Brokeback Mountain." I then asked him what he thought of the film "Crash." He told me he really liked it and then explained why. Lastly, I cannot say for certain if the mayor feel asleep during the film. I don't recall hearing any thing that sounded like snorting or snoring. I was with a friend who is quite sensitive to these things. He recoils if any one ever talks or crinkles paper during a film. Snoring would have been high on his radar particularly since he was sitting directly in front of the mayor. I could go on about how the mayor didn't actually get the usher to fetch or refill my container of popcorn, but why bother. It didn't happen that way. And what if it did? He was being a gentlemen and trying to help.