VANITY FAIR®

AUGUST 2008 NO. 576 | VANITYFAIR.COM

FEATURES

WHO’S UP? HOLLYWOOD’S NEXT WAVE 92

Since V.F. first focused on Hollywood’s teen titans, in 2003, the YouTube-Gawker machine has upped the ante. For every Shia LaBeouf success, there’s a Lindsay Lohan flameout. As Mark Seliger photographs today’s crop of hot young things—Gossip Girls, Jonas Brothers, and Apatow apostles—James Wolcott finds them adapting, so far, to Digital Age fame. Spotted everywhere, but captured here: the class of 2008!

BRINGING DOWN BEAR STEARNS 106

Wall Street never liked Bear Stearns, but who wanted it dead? When stubborn rumors brought down the maverick investment bank this spring, fingers pointed to reckless traders and hands-off management. But from insider accounts, Bryan Burrough uncovers perhaps the greatest financial scandal in history.

STUDY IN SCARLET 112

Michael Roberts and A. A. Gill spotlight fashion muse Daphne Guinness as the Irish socialite launches a new scent.

FROM MAO TO WOW! 114

As Beijing hosts the Summer Olympics, gold medals should go to its new skyline, which holds the strongest promise of a Chinese Century. Exploring six freshly unveiled architectural wonders, from Sir Norman Foster’s airport terminal to the soon-to-be-iconic “Bird’s Nest” stadium,

Kurt Andersen is reminded of New York City circa 1914. Photographs by Todd Eberle and Stephen Wilkes.

THE WOMAN WHO WANTED THE SECRETS 124

Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli left his only surviving child, Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen, five magnificent homes, a museum-quality art collection, and roughly half a billion dollars. She says she wanted something else: the truth about his estate. After suing three top Agnelli advisers, de Pahlen has been exiled by the clan, including her son John Elkann, now Fiat’s head. Mark Seal gets both sides of an ugly, unprecedented feud. Portrait by Jason Bell.

HAMPTONS OVERDRIVE 134

The subprime-mortgage tidal wave has hit even—gasp!— the Hamptons, though beachfront estates still fetch stratospheric prices ($80 million, anyone?). Michael Shnayerson surveys the damage as billionaires do some fancy footwork, mere millionaires watch real-estate sharks circle their McMansions, and the lobster salad is being paid for in euros. Photographs by Cameron Davidson.

CONTINUED ON PAGE38

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

FAN FAIR

31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE 57

Harvey Milk, from Castro Street to Hollywood 57

The Cultural Divide 58

Elissa Schappell’s Hot Type 60

Tropic Thunder takes Emily Poenisch by storm;

Bruce Handy applauds Hamlet 2; Julian Sancton salutes Generation Kill 62

Olivia Strand on Eva Scrivo’s shear genius; Hot Looks; Eyes by Design; Jessica Flint shapes up with Julien Farel 64

COLUMNS

BELIEVE ME, IT’S TORTURE70

The debate over U.S. interrogation methods won’t be settled anytime soon. But after being waterboarded by a team of military veterans, Christopher Hitchens has a better idea of why he thinks the words “torture” and “American” shouldn’t go together. Photographs by Gasper Tringale.

HILLARYLAND AT WAR 74

Neither her front-runner status nor her decades of politicsas-war could propel Hillary Clinton to victory. Her biggest problem (other than Bill)? A top-down campaign, plagued with infighting over how to package the first serious female presidential candidate. After months of covering Clinton, Gail Sheehy delivers the postmortem on a race that changed the country.

VANITIES

GREAT SCOT! 89

Dame Judi Dench joins Club Apatow; That Was Then and This Is Now; Howard Schatz captures Colin Firth in character as a veteran middleweight, a volatile adman, and a starstruck teen 90

ET CETERA

EDITOR’S LETTER48

CONTRIBUTORS50

LETTERS The Miley Cyrus Photo Fuss 54

FAIRGROUND It’s in the Cannes 67

CREDITS 158

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Bette Midler 160

TO FIND CONDE NAST MAGAZINES ONLINE, VISIT www.condenet.com;

TO FIND VANITY FAIR, VISIT www.vanityfair.com.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.