Since 1991, 77-year-old Austrian billionaire Richard Lugner has paid B-list actresses to be his date to the Vienna Opera Ball. The past few years he’s invited Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Dita Von Teese and Raquel Welch. This year he’s paid Lindsay Lohan $150,000 to be his escort after his first choice, Katie Price, screwed herself out of her invitation by announcing his selection before he could.
However, Lindsay might not have been the best choice as she’s proving to be difficult. Lindsay wanted to “change some of the dates” even though the Opera Ball has been going on since 1936 and is somewhat of a tradition. Lindsay also refused to pick a gown ahead of time and insisted on only buying a “European gown” until just before the Feb. 11 ball. Not only that, but Lindsay’s managers are demanding all alcohol be kept away from her.
As part of the shillings-but-no-schnapps deal, Lohan will attend a press conference with Lugner the day before the ball. She’ll also sign autographs for a few hours in his massive mall, known as Lugner City.
She’ll go to the dance with Lugner, his current 20-year-old girlfriend, Anastasia Sokol, his 16-year-old daughter, Jacqueline, and the teen’s 25-year-old boyfriend, Helmut Werner.
“My daughter is the one who chose Lindsay, and she has picked for me in the last three years because she’s more in touch with who’s in the newspapers. Me, I’m a businessman, so I don’t know these things,” Lugner said.
Lindsay isn’t allowed to make any demands. They can buy her a dress made of used condoms and she shouldn’t be able to complain. It’s not like she can afford to be picky. $150,000 and free food is a good deal for her. It’s like a Cinderella story. If Cinderella was a washed-up B-list alcoholic actress who still has a modicum amount of fame. In fact, maybe this is less like a Cinderella story and more like the story of the hooker I picked up last week and brought to a wedding. If this is anything like my story, Lindsay should really demand payment up front before Lugner steals her purse and quietly sneaks out in the middle of the night.
