On Saturday The Hollywood Reporter published what was surely meant to be a fun piece about WME partner Richard Weitz throwing mini-parties via Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic. It began organically, something for his daughter’s 17th birthday, but now the virtual concert series is the new hot ticket in town.
A virtual shindig on April 1st had “more than 200 people” from Weitz’s social network watching Josh Groban sing Simon & Garfunkel tunes. (Reportedly Tina Fey found the old chestnut “America” a little too emotional, yukking it up that Groban was “trying to kill me.”)
April 3rd’s gathering had over 300 insiders.
Musical guests at Weitz’s happenings have included John Mayer, Rick Springfield, Deborah Gibson, Boy George, Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Bolton, and Adam Pascal. VIPs from all over the map have joined the parties, including Jeffrey Katzenberg, Rob Lowe, L.L. Cool J, Clive Davis, and Monica Lewinsky.
This all sounds like fun, but pity the poor socialite who thought the shelter in place order meant they could take a moment to stop worrying about status and read The Chronicles of Narnia by the fire. The pressure is on. You need to be at the next Weitz-fest. And to the creatives struggling to make connections, the search is on for that hyperlink to get your digital foot in the door.
What will happen when A-listers encounter their first Zoombomb? It’s probably just around the corner. All I know is that if John Mayer covers “Theme from Zoom” over Zoom and I don’t get to see it, I’m going to be crushed.