THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 25 AUGUST 21, 2019
YACHT: JEFF MORGAN 10/ALAMY. VACATION: @DAVIDGEFFEN/INSTAGRAM (3).
People, Places, Preoccupations
About Town
How Geffen’s
Insta Became a
‘Status Thing’
D
avid Geffen famously
shuns interviews, so
his Instagram account
— which the mogul-
philanthropist launched in 2016
— offers the only window into his
private world. And what a view.
That’s thanks in large part
— 138 meters, to be exact — to
Rising Sun, the superyacht he
purchased in 2010 from fellow
billionaire Larry Ellison, on which
Geffen hosts some of the world’s
most famous names from film,
music, business and politics. With
many of those guests smiling
in photos against the backdrop
of Ibiza, Mallorca or Capri for
his 72,000 followers, poring
over Geffen’s Insta has become a
Hollywood pastime. C-suites were
abuzz with this summer’s guest
log: Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King,
Katy Perry with fiance Orlando
Bloom, Chris Rock with girlfriend
Megalyn Echikunwoke, Karlie
Kloss and husband Josh Kushner
(brother of Jared), Goldman
Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein and wife
Laura, K5 Global founder Michael
Kives and wife Lydia (a nonprofit
attorney), oil heir Mikey Hess and
designer fiancee Misha Nonoo.
But the yachty who inspiredthe most chatter was the world’s
richest man, Jeff Bezos, posted
Aug. 6 in a group shot with girl-
friend Lauren Sanchez-Whitesell.
Bezos has his own Instagram but
never gives his 987,000 followers
a glimpse at his private world. So
appearing on Geffen’s, especially
in the same photo as Sanchez-
Whitesell, could seem like the
ultimate flex for his host. But
sources familiar with Rising Sun
activities say Geffen, 76, is not
strategic about the shots he posts.
“He’s just at the place in his life
where he doesn’t care,” offers one.
Says another well-placed industry
source: “There’s a reason the most
powerful people in the world
show up. It is the most coveted,
most exclusive and most unbe-
lievable vacation experience ever.”
Since Geffen has been
documenting his guests, he’s
snapped Disney’s Bob Iger,
Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams,
NBCUniversal’s Ron Meyer,
Netflix’s Te d S a r a n d o s, Julia
Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Barry Diller and wife Diane von
Furstenberg, Bruce Springsteen,
Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks
and Rita Wilson, Jerry Seinfeld,
Diane Sawyer, Scooter Braun,Bradley Cooper, Mariah Carey,
film executive Stacey Snider,
and producers Walter Parkes and
Laurie MacDonald. One couple he
hosted but never posted: Barack
and Michelle Obama.
Perry and others also have
posted (or reposted Geffen’s
shots) on their Instas. An indi-
vidual with knowledge of both
Hollywood and yachting etiquette
says guests should pause before
pulling out a smartphone. “You
can do a dry run test by taking
your phone out to pretend to
check a message. If you see the
boat owner get antsy or look your
way, put it right back. ... After all,
the yacht is their sanctuary.”
Rising Sun may be his sanctu-
ary, but Geffen remains rooted to
his upbringing, says author Kevin
Sessums, who knows him. “For
someone who is very rich and very
famous, he has always been the
boy from Brooklyn with his nose
pressed against the window,”
Sessums explains. “Instagram is
just a newfangled window.”From top: Jeff Bezos (right, on couch) and
Lauren Sanchez-Whitesell (fourth from left,
standing) were among those pictured on
Geffen’s Instagram on Aug. 6. Chris Rock (left)
and his girlfriend posed with Geffen in June.
Katy Perry hit Mallorca with the mogul in July.A voyage on Rising Sun (and
a shot on the host’s feed)
is summer’s ‘most coveted’
vacation for the rich and
famous By Chris Gardner