Dude Looks Like a Scammer (and a lady): "Frank Marino's Divas" show at The LINQ closed by Caesars after Marino apparently stole charity money
"Frank Marino's Divas" is a long-running drag show which has existed in Vegas since 1985. It was originally called "An Evening at La Cage". Marino has performed in more than 25,000 shows during that time, which is a record as a headliner.
Frank starred as Joan Rivers, and the other "girls" would play other well-known female celebrities.
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It was at the now-defunct Riviera for a long time, and was most recently at Caesars-owned "The LINQ".
Now the show has closed and has no home, and it's all because of an accusation that Marino was stealing merchandise sale money earmarked for charity.
Marino would announce daily from the stage that a portion of the proceeds of "Divas" merchandise would be donated to the Las Vegas Make-A-Wish foundation, and he encouraged audience members to purchase items such as DVDs and t-shirts. Recently, a report emerged that Make-A-Wish was not actually getting any money from Frank Marino or Divas.
Shortly after the show abruptly closed without a planned final performance (highly unusual for long-running Vegas shows), Caesars confirmed the closure was due to the charity money issue. Shortly after that, on July 3, Marino admitted that the money intended for charity actually wasn't sent to Make-A-Wish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Marino
As some are aware, I have historically given a portion of the proceeds from the sales of certain ‘Divas Las Vegas’ merchandise to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, as well as incorporating them into special events like my Celebrity Roast held at the Stratosphere Hotel in which all of the proceeds and donations were given to them personally. I’m saddened to say that due to my own negligence, Make-a-Wish has not received a check from me for some time. I am personally embarrassed and ashamed. I take full responsibility and am sincerely apologetic for this situation. I have confirmed the figure which I would have customarily donated to them from a percentage of my merchandise sales and have offered to substantially increase that many times over. Make-a-Wish is an important charity and my favorite in the world because it lifts the hearts and spirits of children desperately in need of joy, comfort, and compassion. I hope my mistake will not prevent others from donating generously to this organization and I pray that I will be able to work with them for many years to come. Numerous other false allegations have been circulated, they are inaccurate; ‘Divas’ agreed with Caesars to terminate the production which had been performed 7 days a week. I personally want to state that Caesars Entertainment and the ‘Divas Las Vegas’ show has always maintained a very positive and professional working relationship. I also want to go on record and state that the last 8 years of performing at The LINQ Hotel has been nothing less than a wonderful and amazing experience for both myself and my cast. Caesars is a great organization and it was my honor to provide the ‘Divas’ Show at The LINQ for so many years.
He's telling the truth that Divas mutually agreed to terminate its contract with Caesars, but that doesn't mean much. It simply means that both sides agreed to end their relationship without either party suing the other for breach of contract. In reality, he was kicked out of The LINQ over this matter.
Unrelated to this, Marino was also unhappy with Caesars and The LINQ for quite some time. He felt they weren't promoting the show enough, and was irritated that he was playing second fiddle to magician Mat Franco, who was signed to perform at The LINQ in 2015. Franco was given Marino's better nighttime slot four days a week, while Marino was moved to 4pm on those days. In addition, the theater itself was renamed "Mat Franco Theater", which insulted Marino. When on stage, Marino would welcome the audience to "The Linq Theater" and would never mention Franco's name.
Caesars reportedly fired various employees at The LINQ over this matter, prior to completely closing the show.
However, Caesars considers "this matter closed" and will not be pursuing it any further.
It is unlikely that the charity was being stiffed "due to negligence" because the failure to donate only benefited Marino (it wasn't embezzled by employees), and Marino repeatedly promoted the charity-related merchandise at his shows every day. It would be hard for Marino to claim that he "forgot" to donate given how he talked about Make-A-Wish daily. He also did not blame any employees under him for forgetting to donate, so it seems likely that Marino discovered at some point that he could make extra money by pretending to sell merchandise for charity, and simply keep the money. Now that he's been caught, blaming his own "negligence" is really his only way out.
He claims that he will return to the Strip in the fall, but I doubt any large company will sign him. He will probably have to play in some independent shithole property.
He's the Las Vegas Review Journal article about it: https://www.reviewjournal.com/entert...rity-upheaval/
