In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, rich asshole Jon Peters went into great detail about his wealth and relished in his reputation as shamelessly money-hungry. When asked about parallels drawn between him and Donald Trump, he proudly told Hollywood Reporter, “I am the Trump of Hollywood.”
His life has boggled those in Hollywood for years. From his humble beginnings as Barbra Streisand’s hairdresser to launching the Batman and Superman movie franchises, Peters is a true rags-to-riches story, albeit without an ounce of humility. He’s so influential that he was credited as being the inspiration behind the films Shampoo and American Gigolo, and he’s had a hand in everything from Caddyshack to Flashdance. The Hollywood Reporter profile on him is not only full of great quotes from Peters about his love for smoking pot, but it also includes descriptions like this that perfectly set the scene for what sitting across from Peters must be like:
Sporting a ponytail, silk lounge pants and the kind of bravado that comes with mountains of “f— you” money, Peters is soft-spoken, charming and candid.
Peters goes on about his love affairs and his bromance with fellow Hollywood money-maker Peter Guber, but there’s a clear chip on his shoulder throughout the piece. He constantly revisits his ”humble” upbringings with bitterness, citing that people didn’t seem to respect him at first because they considered him a lowly hairdresser. When recalling an affair with Kim Bassinger on the set of Batman he said:
Michael Keaton had the eye for Kim Basinger. I remember he got mad at me when she and I hooked up. He felt rejected ‘cause he was the star. He’s Batman. Yeah. I was a hairdresser who could talk to women.
It’s something he comes back to again and again and is clearly one of the reasons he was driven to succeed in Hollywood: to show that he was more than just a guy who does hair. That drive for power and money is one of the clearest commonalities he shares with Trump, whom he admires. When asked about his feelings for Trump, he went into revealing detail:
“I thought that every time he said stupid things and he acted like a fool, and all the women and things, I thought it was going to kill him. It didn’t because a lot of people are like him. Like to look at pretty girls. Wish they could talk to a pretty girl. Wish they could do this. I’ve been a Democrat my whole life. I voted for Obama twice. But this is a brilliant man.”
At the end of the day, however, he comes across as a miserable, embittered assholes, despite all his success. Maybe he really is the Trump of Hollywood.