Ovitz-Geffen truce?
Power brokers break bread, not heads
Tongues have been wagging over the apparent detente staged between long-time feuders Michael Ovitz and David Geffen, who were spotted Monday evening dining with Barry Diller at the West Hollywood boite Locanda Veneta.
While mavens have a hard time pointing to the one event that led to the ill will between Ovitz and Geffen, the long-burning feud is one of the most public, high-powered feuds in Hollywood. Lore has it that the animus goes as far back as 1980 and the duo's involvement with the film "Personal Best," which Geffen produced and for which Ovitz repped writer Robert Towne. In recent years, Geffen reportedly blamed Ovitz for leaking to the press his plans with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg to form DreamWorks. This move was reportedly retribution for Ovitz's contention that Geffen leaked details of the MCA-Matsushita deal years before.
Geffen and Ovitz have attempted rapprochement at various times, including a reported luncheon in 1996 between the then president of Disney and the film-music mogul at DreamWorks' offices on the Universal lot. That rendezvous was understood to have ended in a shouting match and prolonged bad blood.
The recent dinner at Locanda Veneta was said to have ended without fireworks, inspiring more questions about what was discussed between the threesome than why they were together.
-- Chris Petrikin
