This is bizarre: As fans may know,there had been confusing and conflicting reports in some articles on the L.A.M.B. runway show over whether or not actor Matt Damon,who had supposedly been invited,had been a no-show.Gwen had said backstage that she had never met Matt and didn’t know he would be coming.Now,according to The New York Post,a man named Jay Berman allegedly contacted Gwen’s rep agency,Schiff Company,and,posing as Matt Damon’s rep,requested tickets to the L.A.M.B. show for Damon,his wife and a friend.The arrangements were made,and front-row seats were reserved,resulting in a swarm of photographers and reporters anticipating his arrival.But when Damon didn’t show up,there was a lot of confusion-until today,when Damon’s rep confimred to the Post that Damon had been in LA all week and has never even attended a fashion show.Apparantly,Berman had used a similar ruse to try and obtain tickets to other Fashion Week events,although he refused to talk about it to the Post.Really weird story-glad Gwen’s show otherwise went off without a hitch.
A party crasher pretending to be Matt Damon’s publicist caused havoc at Gwen Stefani’s show for her fashion line, L.A.M.B., at Lincoln Center — forcing organizers to hold front-row seats for Damon, who was in LA, and sending paparazzi into a frenzy.
A man who called himself Jay Berman contacted reps at several fashion houses and agencies during Fashion Week posing as a rep for the “Bourne” star and Victoria’s Secret models Chanel Iman, Alessandra Ambrosio, Coco Rocha and Lily Aldridge.
On Thursday, Berman called the Schiff Company, which reps Stefani, and claimed to be Damon’s point person in New York while he promoted his new movie, “The Adjustment Bureau.” He requested three tickets for Damon, his wife, Luciana Barroso, and a friend named Peter Gianquinto. The tickets were arranged with organizers at Paul Wilmot Communications. Photographers and reporters swarmed the front row expecting the A-list star and his wife, anxiously waiting for them to take up two reserved seats. But they never showed up, and instead two burly security men took the seats.
Confusion continued through last evening, when Wilmot organizers still believed Barroso attended the show with Gianquinto, but sat in the fourth row because they didn’t want to be photographed.
However, Damon’s rep, Jennifer Allen, confirmed to us that Damon and Barroso had been in LA since Tuesday morning, since Damon is shooting a movie there. “He’s never been to a fashion show, to my knowledge,” said Allen, who has repped Damon for 16 years. “No one called me to check.”
Allen also said Berman’s name has come up in the past. “I did get a call six months ago from ESPN about the same thing. Same guy, same name saying he was trying to set Matt up for some ESPN event.”
Other Fashion Week publicists said they had also been contacted by Berman — who used an e-mail address from PMKHBHPR, clearly nothing to do with p.r. powerhouse PMK — trying to get into shows and parties for G-Star and Catherine Malandrino, but he was rejected. Berman hung up on us when we called to ask about his con act.
EDIT-A few more details from the ruse have emerged at PopEater;according to actress Taryn Manning,who was also at the L.A.M.B. runway show,the imposter claimed to have bought out Nobu restaurant for Gwen for the night following her show(in reality,Gwen’s after-party was held at The Empire Hotel) and also offered to buy Manning several L.A.M.B. fashions right off the runway.There’s been no word yet on whether charges will be filed against the imposter.This whole story is really weird-hopefully nothing like this will happen again at future L.A.M.B. runway shows.
The crowd at Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. fashion show anxiously awaited as one empty seat needed to be filled. The man in waiting: Matt Damon. But he never showed.
Apparently, an impostor duped the organizers, pretending to be Damon’s publicist. He demanded the coveted front row seats for the actor, his wife and a pal named Peter Gianquinto. But when it became obvious that Damon wasn’t coming, organizers had ‘8 Mile’ actress Taryn Manning fill the seat.
“Organizers changed the entire seating plan to accommodate Damon, so everyone was baffled when he didn’t show,” a fashion show rep tells PopEater, adding it seemed “out of character.”
Damon’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, had no knowledge of the request and told New York Post’s Page Six, “He’s never been to a fashion show, to my knowledge. No one called me to check.”
On-site sources believe infamous party crasher Gianquinto (pictured at left) may have been behind the elaborate hoax. “During the show, he told me he had bought out Nobu for the night for Gwen and offered to buy me several looks off the runway,” Manning tells PopEater.
This isn’t Gianquinto’s first scheme. According to press reports from 1997, a man by the same name was busted for fraud for posing as Elton John’s manager in order to get tickets to a dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. He was charged again with conducting a scheme to defraud and with criminal impersonation after he posed as a rep for the Rolling Stones to get invitations to gala dinners and gifts from hotels.
According to reports, the imposter tried to contact other fashion publicists trying to get into shows and parties for G-Star and Catherine Malandrino, but he was rejected.
No word on if charges have been filed.