Elvis Wedding Crackdown Leaves Las Vegas All Shook Up

An Elvis impersonator sings in February 2020 during a ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which has offered Elvis-themed weddings since 1977 MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
An Elvis impersonator sings in February 2020 during a ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which has offered Elvis-themed weddings since 1977 MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Elvis Wedding Crackdown Leaves Las Vegas All Shook Up

An Elvis impersonator sings in February 2020 during a ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which has offered Elvis-themed weddings since 1977 MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
An Elvis impersonator sings in February 2020 during a ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which has offered Elvis-themed weddings since 1977 MARIO TAMA GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Every year thousands of visitors to Las Vegas can't help falling in love -- at least long enough to get married by an Elvis impersonator.

But the company that controls the rights to the King's likeness has sparked outrage in Sin City by cracking down wedding chapels offering Elvis-themed nuptials.

Authentic Brands Group, which bought a controlling stake in Elvis Presley's estate in 2013, last month sent cease-and-desist letters to companies offering the kitschy weddings.

The move triggered angry responses from Elvis impersonators, chapel owners, and even the mayor of Las Vegas, who called for a little more open conversation -- and less legal action -- from the group.

"Elvis Presley long called Las Vegas his home and his name has become synonymous with Las Vegas weddings," Jason Whaley, president of the Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce, told AFP.

"The Vegas Wedding Chamber shares a concern that many of our chapels and impersonators livelihoods are being targeted, especially as many are still trying to recover financially from the hurdles we all endured with Covid shutdowns."

ABG on Thursday apologized for its initial approach, saying it was committed to protecting Presley's legacy.

"We are sorry that recent communication with a small number of Las Vegas based chapels caused confusion and concern. That was never our intention," the company said in a statement to AFP.

"We are working with the chapels to ensure that the usage of Elvis' name, image and likeness are in keeping with his legacy."

It added: "From tribute artists and impersonators to chapels and fan clubs, each and every one of these groups help to keep Elvis relevant for new generations of fans."

But a day earlier, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that ABG was now offering chapels financial "partnerships," including annual licensing deals to continue business as usual.

"That is their solution, to pay $20,000 a year to do what we've been doing for the past nine years," said Kayla Collins, co-owner of the Las Vegas Elvis Wedding Chapel.

"This was not on the table a few days ago. Frankly, I think this thing going to the public has changed their minds."

- 'Elvis Pink Caddy' -
The move comes weeks before the release of Baz Luhrmann's new big-screen biopic "Elvis" -- a large-scale Warner Bros production expected to boost interest in the singer.

Elvis-themed weddings have been a lucrative business in Las Vegas since the 1970s.

Packages today run as high as $1,600 for the Elvis Pink Caddy Luxury Model Wedding Package, which offers couples the chance to be driven up the aisle of the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel by Elvis in a 1964 pink Cadillac convertible.

Weddings are a $2.5 billion industry in Las Vegas, according to the Wedding Chamber of Commerce.

But while Elvis musical tribute acts are freely allowed under Nevada law, businesses using Presley's likeness simply to attract publicity and customers are not protected.

Harry Shahoian, one of dozens of Elvis impersonators in the city, who officiates at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, told the Review-Journal that people just "love to be married by Elvis."

"I did the whole day Sunday, 22 ceremonies. I've done more than 30 in one day, 100 in a week, all of those Elvis-themed."



F1 Great Ayrton Senna’s High-Octane Life in Focus of New Netflix Series about Racing Champion

 Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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F1 Great Ayrton Senna’s High-Octane Life in Focus of New Netflix Series about Racing Champion

 Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone poses for photos on the red carpet for the Netflix series Senna, about the life and death of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, who was killed in 1994 in a crash, in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Thirty years after his death in a high-speed crash viewed by millions around the world, Formula One champion Ayrton Senna's high-octane life is also about to play out in front of a global audience.

The legendary Brazilian driver — who was killed when his car hit a concrete wall at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 — is the subject of a six-episode Netflix series that debuts on Nov. 29 and follows him from his early go-kart days to that fatal Sunday afternoon at the Imola track in Italy.

Even three decades after that accident, few F1 figures evoke as much emotion and passion among fans and fellow drivers as Senna, who won three championship titles before his death at the age of 34.

Senna’s complex personality — he was a saint to his millions of Brazilian fans and a sinner to some critics who deemed his driving style too aggressive — comes to life through Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone, who embraced the challenge of portraying such a popular figure.

"He was much more than an F1 driver for us, he became an icon, much beyond his technique and his driving," Leone told The Associated Press in an interview in Sao Paulo. "He had this humanity, this honesty. The things he said, his values, it all made him closer to people."

Senna's life and career had no shortage of made-for-TV moments.

This was a driver who once won a race with his car stuck in sixth gear in front of thousands of raucous fans at the Interlagos track. And who went from fifth position to first in one lap at the 1993 European Grand Prix. And who jumped out of his car during a training session to save the life of a French driver who had crashed.

On the track, his rivalry with French driver Alain Prost was one of the most intense that F1 has ever seen. Off the track, he had some high-profile relationships as well and dated several models, including Elle Macpherson.

"For me as an actor, the more complex the character is, the better. It is more interesting to build him and live him. And this is quite a character, the biggest hero in Brazil, not only in sport," Leone said. "Ayrton was transcendent, he was more than an F1 driver. That’s a guy who is the hero of great drivers in history, like (Michael) Schumacher and (Lewis) Hamilton."

Senna won the drivers’ championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991 with the McLaren team and moved to Williams in the year he died as the favorite to lift the title again.

For Leone, though, it was also important to portray him as a person who understood his role as a national hero, who advocated for the poor and proudly waved a Brazilian flag from his cockpit during every victory lap.

"He was not distant, he was close," said Leone, who attended a red carpet premiere in Sao Paulo on Tuesday with several other cast members and director Vicente Amorim. "That’s for Brazilians and non-Brazilians. It was like this, and it still is like this."

To many international fans, Senna was simply an exceptional talent who was born to be a driver. Even former rival Martin Brundle, now a TV pundit, once likened Senna's ability to find grip on some corners to a dance seemingly innate to a Brazilian.

"It is a different kind of samba that I could not do," Brundle has said.

The Netflix series, however, shows some of the hard work and attention to detail that went into Senna becoming a wet-weather master.

The streaming giant — which reportedly invested more than $170 million in its production — also takes a bit of liberty with the truth when it comes to building up the animosity between Senna and one of his other real-life antagonists, Jean-Marie Balestre, the French former president of F1's governing body FIA.

Balestre is often accused by fans of aiding his countryman Prost in his rivalry with Senna, including at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix by stopping the race early before the Brazilian driver could overtake his French rival in the heavy rain. And at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, when Senna was disqualified in a decision that handed the championship title to Prost.

The Netflix series goes a step further by making Balestre (played by Arnaud Viard) the man responsible for Senna also losing a go-kart title as a youngster, long before he even entered F1.

"If that was true it would be news to every reporter covering Senna’s story over the last decades," said Ernesto Rodrigues, who wrote a biography on the three-time F1 champion. "Yes, Senna had Balestre working against him many times. But Balestre was an autocrat with other drivers, too. It wasn’t exclusive."

Prost, played by Matt Mella, goes from being a racing foe to a friend after his retirement in the series just like in real life. The friction between the two as McLaren teammates and then in the title-deciding races in the 1989 and 1990 seasons create some of the best moments of the series for racing fans.

Three of the women in Senna’s life also appear in the series.

Scenes with Lílian de Vasconcellos Souza, who married Senna in 1981 and divorced him the next year, help show how the Brazilian was driven to go into F1 early in his career. Xuxa Meneghel, a wildly popular TV host, is featured for a full episode as the driver’s most important girlfriend. Adriane Galisteu, who was the champion’s girlfriend when he died, appears for less than three minutes.

Senna's importance to today's F1 drivers was on full display at the Brazilian Grand Prix this month, when Hamilton — the British seven-time F1 champion — drove one of Senna's old cars around the track as part of the tributes marking the 30th anniversary of his death.

"This is the greatest honor of my life," Hamilton said on Nov. 3. "I hope I made Senna proud."