DAVOS: WHERE INCLUSION BECOMES EXCLUSION: Feathers ruffled Friday in Davos when a group of guests to a Microsoft event on LGBT inclusion were told they were not allowed to enter the venue by World Economic Forum security staff. Davos security is notoriously strict, but the event was held outside the main congress center and the guests were pre-approved. Not even the invocation of the name of WEF supremo Klaus Schwab could get security to budge. “The event was supposed to be about inclusion not exclusion,” fumed one guest to Playbook. The solution? The guests were told by organizers to pretend to be really angry and storm off … then take a left and head in the fire escape door. The tactic worked. So much for security…
A DAVOS FAIRYTALE WITH PETER MANDELSON AS PRINCE CHARMING: Poppy Wood from Epsilon was having a great Davos week … until the diamond from her engagement ring popped out onto the floor at Martin Sorrell’s WPP cocktail party Friday night. But don’t mess with Poppy — she cleared her throat, announced the bad news, and soon had the party guests on hands and knees searching for the glistening rock. Where did Finsbury’s Daniel Gieve find it? Nestled next to the foot of former EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.
STAY CLASSY, DAVOS: Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s annual party at Davos has traditionally been a hot invite among the finance crowd with his Champagne fountains, caviar tins and festive Russian dancers. But in years past, Playbook hears there were complaints that some of the young guests were dressed a bit too scantily for the rest of the well-heeled and besuited crowd. This year, Deripaska’s guests upped the dress code and some of his younger Russian glamazon guests were dressed business-casual — in pencil skirts and button-down shirts. The party looked like a scene from “Mad Men.”
DON’T ASK THE TALENT: There were a few shining stars glittered throughout the sea of honchos and wonks at Davos this year: Leonardo di Caprio, Jordan’s Queen Rania and “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey. But Playbook found if you probed them on their pet projects you would be turned away. Spacey — who said he was in town representing the interests of cybersecurity firm Wisekey, and worried about a Sony-style hack on Relativity Media, the studio he now heads — said he knew little about the Digital Single Market proposals coming out of the Commission. “I need to look into it, but I just don’t want it to hurt the little people, you know the people carrying the lights and the tech crew,” he said. Queen Rania, who was in town to talk about the refugee crisis, wasn’t ready for a question about the Commission’s efforts to relocate asylum-seekers. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
MEPS BEARING GIFTS: The jockeying for position in the Parliament’s presidential sweepstakes continues. French MEP Elisabeth Morin-Chartier is so eager for the European People’s Party nomination to be the assembly’s next president that she distributed boxes of macaroons from her Poitou-Charentes region to all senior MEPs as a New Year’s gift last week in Strasbourg. We hear the confectionery came in a goody bag with a glossy brochure of her political activities over the past year – meetings with Pope Francis, King Abdullah of Jordan, all very presidential… And Parliament vice president Antonio Tajani — also eager to be nominated as the EPP’s candidate for the president — was the only Italian MEP rubbing shoulders at the German Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union New Year’s reception at the Hotel last Wednesday evening.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: Nicolas Sarkozy was so busy as French president, it seems, to pay attention to what was going on politically in other countries. In his new book, released this week, Sarkozy makes a reference to a 2008 U.S. presidential contest between George W. Bush and Barack Obama that never happened. Next time get a ghostwriter, maybe?
BILL GATES’ JERRY MAGUIRE MOMENT: Surrounded by plaster casts of Pharoahs wearing sanitary masks and statues of cherubs with oversized headphones on their ears (it was a contemporary art museum) mega philanthropist Bill Gates had a message for EU research ministers Tuesday night: “We absolutely need more research money.” Gates loved their climate work and their open access policy but was determined to let them know the world can’t cope with a flu epidemic, let alone malnutrition if they don’t cough up more.
TOP OF THE PODIUM: This is most likely only a problem for the Dutch, the world’s tallest people. Tuesday night in Amsterdam state secretary for science Sander Dekker mounted the speaking podium at the Bill Gates dinner with ministers to introduce the star guest. The speech itself went off fine. But guests couldn’t help notice that Dekker is so tall the lectern only came up to his hips, leaving him to tower over it like a friendly giant.
TOUR MOLENBEEK: The Visitbrussels.be campaign has a new twist in its ongoing effort to boost tourism to Brussels: a tour of the city’s Molenbeek neighborhood, where many of the Paris terrorist attackers allegedly hatched their plan. The invite for the January 30 tour blasts the media for painting the neighborhood as a “no-go area, a warm nest for terrorists, a hatchery for Jihadists, a sanctuary for extremists.” The group claims “the nuance is lost.” The tour promises to “show you how the old industrial glory faded away and how Molenbeek has turned into a part of the city where migration is responsible for the dynamics and is building a future.”
SPAM ALERT: An assistant to German MEP Klaus Bunchner sent out an email blast to the entire Parliament that the office’s latest hire, assistant Andreas Wagner, needs a place to live. According to the message, Wagner is looking for a place near the Parliament with a maximum budget of €650. At least this time the memo had a disclaimer in the subject line: “Sorry for Spam.” Best of luck!
THE NEW NORMAL IN CALAIS: When politicians and journalists visit the migrant camp at Calais near the Channel Tunnel, they tend to note the squalor, the mud, and the desperation of the residents. As reported in Volkskrant, Commissioner Violeta Bulc, however, told the Dutch Parliament that the situation has normalized. Unfortunately she had barely finished speaking when, over the weekend, hundreds stormed the port and disrupted ferry services.
THE LIFE OF NEELIE KROES TO HIT THE DUTCH STAGE: Theatre Suburbia will next year première a play inspired by the life of former Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes, whose life has been anything but suburban. The play is written by Léon van der Sanden, and Carine Crutzen will plays the title role. Director Julia Bless tells Playbook: “Her ambition, the political arena in which it operates and her marriage with someone of a different political party all has Shakespearean proportions.” (We should note that in a previous life, Ryan worked as a spokesman for Kroes.)
MICHAEL CAINE WON’T SEE YOU KNOW: Memo to Brussels — Michael Caine thinks you have no face. The 82-year-old British actor went on BBC saying he no longer wanted to be “dictated to by thousands of faceless civil servants.” Euroskeptics, including MEPs Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage, tweeted their approval of Caine’s comments.
WHO’S UP
Christine Lagarde: basking in the a love-in from fellow leaders at Davos, she’s running for a second term at the IMF
Charles Michel: The Belgian prime minister’s partner gave birth to a little girl named Jeanne last week, giving him a great excuse to skip Davos
WHO’S DOWN
Chess players: Saudi Arabia has banned the game because it causes “hatred and hostility”
Plebs at Davos: Uber had us paying a €23 minimum fare … for a trip less than a mile long