EXCLUSIVE: Steve Wynn On His Engagement

I'm the first to confirm Steve Wynn's engagement to Andrea Hissom directly and officially, and it's kind of funny how it happened.

Late last week, I interviewed The Steve for a few upcoming stories. I did not know that he was engaged because I'd been too busy and had fallen behind on reading the R-J. Wynn had instructed his publicist, Jennifer Dunne, to warn me NOT to ask him about the engagement, but she didn't get to me in time. Of course, I didn't know anyhow. And then we were talking about how he has reacted emotionally and creatively to the Vegas economy and this happened:

Wynn: Vegas was good because I could do my thing. Las Vegas was good because I could do what I loved doing.

Friess: Right.

Wynn: It's just convenient that it was Las Vegas because that's where it was possible. Now it's Macau.

Friess: And now Las Vegas is not where it's possible?

Wynn: That's right, not at the moment.

Friess: How long do you think it will be?

Wynn: There's always tomorrow.

Friess: Do you think in your lifetime you will be building another...

Wynn: It depends on when the market comes back and how healthy I am. Right now, I'm feeling great. I skied 15,000 vertical feet today, and I'm engaged to my girlfriend and that's great.

Friess: You're engaged?

Wynn: For three days now.

Friess: Wow. I had not heard that yet, no kidding.

Wynn: It's been in all the papers, you've missed it.

Friess: I haven't looked at Norm today.

Wynn: Norm yesterday.

Friess: Well, I haven't looked at Norm. Congratulations. When is this big wedding going to be?

Wynn: We don't, we don't have any idea.

Friess: Wow.

Wynn: I got engaged Thursday, I mean Tuesday night in Sinatra. The two of us had dinner and I...

Friess: Were there a lot of people there?

Wynn: No, just her and I. Well, there were other people in the restaurant who saw it. That's how I guess it got in the paper. I didn't make an announcement or anything.

Friess: Did you get down on your knee?

Wynn: No, I would have had to get under the table. I was just like, try this on. She had tried a dress on and it had to be altered and I said, 'Good thing you tried that on. You should always try things on to make sure they fit properly. Incidentally, try this on.'

Friess: That's how you said it, at dinner? In the beginning or the end of the meal or what?

Wynn: The beginning.

Friess: And then, you just sat there and ate dinner anyway?

Wynn: Yeah, and ordered a bottle of expensive wine.

I'm ashamed to say I didn't ask the one question any self-respecting US Weekly scribe would know: What about the ring? Sorry. Others will have to fill you in.

What's interesting, though, is comparing this account to ones other journalists have written up based on scuttlebutt. According to one account, Wynn and Andrea were in a private room, he popped the question at the end of the meal, they're plotting a spring wedding and he asked very "traditionally." Hmm.

I'm going with my source.

Wynn: Andrea Has The "Greatest Butt In The World"

This man and his world...


...are never dull.

I had already planned to mention and link to my appearance on KNPR yesterday in which I expressed extreme doubts about Wynn's plans to move the company to China. Fine. There it is.

Then I thought that this British blogger and filmmaker dude named Philip Bloom's digital diarrhea about how much he is owed by the Wynn Las Vegas because they failed to remove a feather pillow from his room was possibly worth taking apart in this space. He says his feather allergy was exacerbating his laryngitis and he told the hotel to remove all the feather pillows; they missed one, he didn't realize it until his last night and he now claims that he ended up unprovably sicker from it. This infraction, he believed, entitled him to loads of freebies!

Bloom acknowledges no responsibility to double-check the premises for potentially harmful allergens -- especially something as general as feathers that appear in pretty much every top-end hotel on the planet -- and is now angry because the hotel only refunded him half his food and beverage tab. He had received a Tweet from @WynnLasVegas promising him full a F&B refund, so on that count he's right that he should have gotten that. But his whole whiny and entitled demeanor in his blather suggests he probably didn't deal very politely with them, either.

But then Wynn himself went into somewhat shocking detail with the South China Morning Post last weekend about his relationship with Andrea Hissom. The R-J's Norm Clarke reported on it today, so I just read it through. (SCMP.Com has a firewall so I can't link to the piece, but they offer free 14-day trials, so you can sign up and then see it for yourself. It's possible this direct link could work, too.)

What we learn in this fascinating piece by Daniel Jeffreys:

* Wynn is an ass man. To wit: "When we were first going out she would make a comment about space and she'd be dead right. And I'd think, 'Don't tell me that, on top of everything else, besides having the greatest butt in the world, she also has the designer gene!' It's like God made a woman for me. The only thing that stops my world from being perfect is that Elaine is not happy."

* Elaine's response: "I obviously needed a man like Steve for his charisma, passion and enthusiasm and I am sorry we don't have a personal relationship any more. But his character is a very demanding one and I am an alpha female. I found I had to compromise to maintain the relationship and I did that because of our children. ... I am thriving. I am in an enviable place - I have independence and that means I can make a difference, but am I totally satisfied? My dream for the endgame [living out the rest of her life with Wynn] was compromised. I am mourning the loss of the dream as much as the man but I do not feel like a victim in any way."

* Wynn claims to have been separated from Elaine when he met Andrea at a restaurant in St. Tropez and romanced her over the love-conquers-all flick "Gigi."

* Wynn suggested that if Elaine had a boyfriend, then the two couples could double-date. Elaine laughed and then responded: "First, no one should assume that I am not seeing somebody. ... I am not craving to learn somebody all over again. It has been great to be in this fanciful wonderful business but I want to have a more important legacy; I want to be known for elevating consciousness. My activities now [promoting continuing education and reducing drop-out rates] are noble."

* Ex-Gov. and Wynn Resorts Board Member Bob Miller on why Elaine Wynn did not attend the Encore Macau opening: "She's too elegant to be here."

* The reporter actually asked Elaine Wynn if she thought Andrea Hissom could take over Wynn Resorts after Steve's gone. Her answer: "She has no background in this business. So there would be a technical deficiency. To say more is too personal."

* Wynn on how he prevents doing business with mobbed-up Macanese junket operators: "I always have a former assistant director of the FBI on board, who does reports on all the junket operators. These are sent to the board in Nevada. So far 45 [operators] have been accepted and six rejected."

* Wynn is "incandescent with rage" on behalf of MGM Mirage for New Jersey's decision that Pansy Ho's connections to her father make her unsuitable as MGM's business partner. Could that be because there have been some who have suggested that Wynn himself had mob ties just because his own late father's dealings may have been unsavory?

* Paul Anka broke the news of 9/11 to Wynn.

Jeffreys never, in the course of the discussion on succession, notes that the most likely person to take over is Elaine Wynn's nephew, Andrew Pascal, who is actually running the Vegas operations already. He also doesn't reference Wynn's vision problems.

Still, that's quite a coup for Mr. Jeffreys. I'm just stunned he didn't ask Elaine what she thought of Andrea's caboose.