Examining Liza's Beau Gest

Strangely, TSG was not invited to Saturday's wacky Liza Minnelli wedding. But that hasn't dampened our enthusiasm for her new union, since we've got a really good feeling about this character David Gest, Liza's fourth husband. Described as a "producer" in the gossip columns, Gest runs something called the American Cinema Awards Foundation, which sponsors an annual "award banquet and auction" honoring assorted relics from Hollywood's Golden Age (the "Gloria Swanson Humanitarian Award" is the dinner's top honor). But while the foundation is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit charity, one person has been paid handsomely by the group--and you guessed it, it's Gest. IRS returns for the past two fiscal years show that Gest, the organization's president, paid his own private firm (David Gest & Associates) $190,000 in FY 2000 and $175,500 in FY 1999 to organize the awards banquet. Both years, that whopping "production fee" was the single largest expense incurred by the charity, which lists its address as Gest's Manhattan apartment. We're not sure how this cozy arrangement sits with Gest's five fellow board members, but you won't be hearing any complaints from Leo Jaffe, who's listed as foundation chairman on the last three tax returns signed by Gest (covering fiscal years 2000, 1999, and 1998). And that's because Jaffe, a former Columbia Pictures chairman and foundation donor, has been dead since August 1997. But while Jaffe's demise at age 88 hasn't cost him his title, in response to the tax return question about the "average hours per week devoted to position," Gest does answer "0" when it comes to Jaffe's weekly time commitment. (5 pages)