Brett Cantor: Difference between revisions
m no comma needed |
clean up and changed bad pros |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
| father = [[Paul Cantor (music business)|Paul Cantor]] |
| father = [[Paul Cantor (music business)|Paul Cantor]] |
||
}} |
}} |
||
'''Brett Cantor''' (November 5, 1967 – July 30, 1993) was an American record label executive, concert promoter and nightclub owner. Born in New York, the son of [[Paul Cantor (music business)|Paul Cantor]], who managed acts such as [[B. J. Thomas]] and [[Dionne Warwick]], he moved to the [[Los Angeles]] area in the early 1970s with his family. In the early 1990s, as an [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] executive for [[Chrysalis Group|Chrysalis Music Group]] |
'''Brett Cantor''' (November 5, 1967 – July 30, 1993) was an American record label executive, concert promoter and nightclub owner. Born in New York, the son of [[Paul Cantor (music business)|Paul Cantor]], who managed acts such as [[B. J. Thomas]] and [[Dionne Warwick]], he moved to the [[Los Angeles]] area in the early 1970s with his family. In the early 1990s, as an [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] executive for [[Chrysalis Group|Chrysalis Music Group]]. |
||
After |
After signing [[Rage Against the Machine]], Cantor left Chrysalis to work briefly as an [[talent agent|agent]] and then a [[Promoter (entertainment)|promoter]], putting together some of the largest concert and dance events in the city at that time.<ref name="Variety obit">{{cite news|title=A&R exec Cantor slain|url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/a-r-exec-cantor-slain-109236/|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 3, 1993|accessdate=July 8, 2018}}</ref> He also entered the nightclub business, taking a 10% stake in Dragonfly, a club known at the time for its 1970s and [[hip hop]] theme nights. At that time he was involved romantically with actress [[Rose McGowan]].<ref name="McGowan Elle article">{{cite news|last=Goodman|first=Lizzy|title=The Making of Rose McGowan, Decorated General in the War Against the Patriarchy|url=https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a14464220/rose-mcgowan-february-2018-profile/|newspaper=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]|date=January 3, 2018|accessdate=July 8, 2018}}</ref> |
||
Cantor was found |
Cantor was found dead in his [[Hollywood]] home on July 30, 1993; he had been stabbed repeatedly in the upper body. No suspect has ever been identified and the investigation remains open. His death was the subject of renewed interest a year later, when, during preliminary motions in the [[O. J. Simpson murder case|trial]] of [[O. J. Simpson]] for the killings of his former wife, [[Nicole Brown Simpson]], and [[Ron Goldman]], Judge [[Lance Ito]] ruled that defense lawyers could have access to the investigatory file in the Cantor case. The defense had argued that the similarity of the three killings suggested the same person or persons had committed them.<ref name="NYT file disclosure story">{{cite news|last=Noble|first=Kenneth|title=Simpson's Attempt to Bar Evidence Is Turned Down|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/22/us/simpson-s-attempt-to-bar-evidence-is-turned-down.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 22, 1994|accessdate=July 8, 2018}}</ref> It has also been argued in books on the case that Cantor knew both Goldman and Nicole, and thus they may have been killed over mutual involvement in possibly illegal business activities. |
||
==Life== |
==Life== |
||
| ⚫ | Cantor was born in [[New York (state)|New York]]<ref name="Variety obit" /> in 1967.{{CN|date=July 2018}} His father Paul, a former [[William Morris Agency|William Morris]] agent who had moved into managing musicians like [[Dionne Warwick]] and [[B. J. Thomas]],<ref name="Paul Cantor obit">{{cite news|last=Barnes|first=Mike|title=Paul Cantor, Agent, Manager and Record Label Exec, Dies at 86|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paul-cantor-agent-manager-record-675018|newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=January 29, 2014|accessdate=July 8, 2018}}</ref> moved the family to [[Los Angeles]] four years later. In his young adulthood, cantor followed his father and older brothers Cliff and Marc into the music industry.<ref name="Variety obit" /> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
At [[Chrysalis Music]] Group, Cantor worked as an [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] executive, looking for artists to sign and develop. In that capacity he signed [[Jane's Addiction]] and helped get [[Rage Against the Machine]] its first record contract. Both bands became stars of the early 1990s [[alternative rock]] scene.<ref name="Variety obit" /> |
At [[Chrysalis Music]] Group, Cantor worked as an [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] executive, looking for artists to sign and develop. In that capacity he signed [[Jane's Addiction]] and helped get [[Rage Against the Machine]] its first record contract. Both bands became stars of the early 1990s [[alternative rock]] scene.<ref name="Variety obit" /> |
||
| Line 49: | Line 48: | ||
===Aftermath=== |
===Aftermath=== |
||
| ⚫ | Edelson was psychologically unable to Dragonfly after Cantor's death, and sold his interest shortly afterwards. "Being there felt wrong, and it still does today" he told ''[[Los Angeles (magazine)|Los Angeles]]'' magazine in 2012.<ref name="LA mag Edelson article" /> Cliff Cantor took over his brother's share and ran the club afterwards.<ref name="LAT post-River story">{{cite news|last1=Braxton|first1=Greg|last2=Siegmund|first2=Heidi|title=The Club Scene, Running on Full : After Phoenix's Death, It's Business (Almost) as Usual at L.A. Hot Spots|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-09/entertainment/ca-55058_1_river-phoenix|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=November 9, 1993|accessdate=July 9, 2018}}</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | Edelson |
||
McGowan took Cantor's death hard. She learned of it when she called his house and an LAPD officer answered. "My blood ran cold and I remember nothing after that", she wrote in 2018. " My world, my hope, went black".<ref name="ET online Brave piece" /> |
|||
===Possible connection to Simpson and Goldman killings=== |
===Possible connection to Simpson and Goldman killings=== |
||
{{main|O. J. Simpson murder case}} |
{{main|O. J. Simpson murder case}} |
||
Almost a year later, the bodies of [[Nicole Brown Simpson]], former wife of |
Almost a year later, the bodies of [[Nicole Brown Simpson]], former wife of [[American football]] player and actor [[O. J. Simpson]], and [[Ronald Goldman]], a waiter were found dead with similar injuries at her Browns home in [[Brentwood, Los Angeles|Brentwood]]. Simpson was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and acquitted at trial.<ref name="OJ plea NYT story">{{cite news|last=Ayres Jr.|first=B. Drummond|title='Absolutely' Not Guilty, A Confident Simpson Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/23/us/absolutely-not-guilty-a-confident-simpson-says.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 23, 1994|accessdate=July 11, 2018}}</ref> |
||
In September 1994, Simpson's lawyers moved to have Judge [[Lance Ito]] allow them to review the LAPD's file on he Cantor homicide. Like him, |
In September 1994, Simpson's lawyers moved to have Judge [[Lance Ito]] allow them to review the LAPD's file on he Cantor homicide. Like him, Brown and Goldman had been stabbed predominantly in the upper body, their throats severely cut.<ref name="LAT file request story">{{cite news|title=Simpson Team Seeks Access to Police File on Unsolved Slaying in Hollywood|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-01/news/mn-33691_1_o-j-simpson|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 1, 1994|accessdate=July 11, 2018}}</ref> Goldman's throat in particular had been cut by someone reaching from behind him, starting on the left side and moving upward to the right across the neck similar to the wound on Cantor. The killer, or at least one of them, of Brown and Goldman had also, according to the [[Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner|coroner]], used a long thin blade, much like the one that had been used on Cantor.<ref name="Killing Time">{{cite book|last1=Freed|first1=Donald|last2=Briggs|first2=Raymond P.|authorlink1=Donald Freed|title=Killing Time: The First Full Investigation Into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman|date=1996|publisher=MacMillan|isbn=9780028613406|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKYuAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> |
||
Ito granted the motion three weeks later,<ref name="NYT file disclosure story" /> ruling that the material was "[[Brady disclosure|discoverable under ''Brady'']]",<ref name="A Problem of Evidence">{{cite book|last1=Bosco|first1=Joe|title=A Problem of Evidence: How the Prosecution Freed O.J. Simpson|date=1996|publisher=William Morrow|isbn=9780688144135|page=94–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds06AQAAIAAJ}}</ref> referring to [[Brady v. Maryland|the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision]] that requires prosecutors to turn over any potentially [[exculpatory evidence]] their investigations uncover to the defense.<ref name="Brady v. Maryland">{{ussc|name=Brady v. Maryland||volume=373|page=83|pin=|year=1963}}</ref> The Simpson defense team also noted that the similarity of the killings themselves was not the only connection between the three murders.<ref name="LAT file request story" /> Goldman had once worked at Dragonfly, where he was seen together with Cantor by other employees, as a waiter, and |
Ito granted the motion three weeks later,<ref name="NYT file disclosure story" /> ruling that the material was "[[Brady disclosure|discoverable under ''Brady'']]",<ref name="A Problem of Evidence">{{cite book|last1=Bosco|first1=Joe|title=A Problem of Evidence: How the Prosecution Freed O.J. Simpson|date=1996|publisher=William Morrow|isbn=9780688144135|page=94–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds06AQAAIAAJ}}</ref> referring to [[Brady v. Maryland|the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brady v. Maryland]] that requires prosecutors to turn over any potentially [[exculpatory evidence]] their investigations uncover to the defense.<ref name="Brady v. Maryland">{{ussc|name=Brady v. Maryland||volume=373|page=83|pin=|year=1963}}</ref> The Simpson defense team also noted that the similarity of the killings themselves was not the only connection between the three murders.<ref name="LAT file request story" /> Goldman had once worked at Dragonfly, where he was seen together with Cantor by other employees, as a waiter, and Brown often went there with her friends to dance, raising the possibility that either or both were acquainted with Cantor.<ref name="Killing Time" /><ref name="A Problem of Evidence" /><ref name="Bailey book">{{cite book|last1=Bailey|first1=F. Lee|last2=Rabe|first2=Jean|authorlink1=F. Lee Bailey|title=When the Husband is the Suspect|date=2008|publisher=MacMillan|isbn=9780765316134|pages=103–04|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga7ksDpMH-wC&pg=PA103}}</ref> |
||
After the Simpson-Goldman murders, detectives questioned Edelson about |
After the Simpson-Goldman murders, detectives questioned Edelson about opossible connections. Later a [[tabloid journalism|tabloid]] ran a story suggesting he was behind all three slayings. Edelson denied the claims saying."The whole thing was ridiculous, ... At the time there were some bad feelings in Hollywood about me."<ref name="LA mag Edelson article" /> |
||
Simpson's defense, which admitted at the time it requested the files that they weren't sure there was connection, chose to focus primarily on the missteps made by police during the investigation and suggestions that much of the strongest evidence against him was [[False evidence|planted]] or otherwise tampered with to implicate him and never brought |
Simpson's defense, which admitted at the time it requested the files that they weren't sure there was connection, chose to focus primarily on the missteps made by police during the investigation and suggestions that much of the strongest evidence against him was [[False evidence|planted]] or otherwise tampered with to implicate him and never brought the Cantor killing in to evidence.Simpson was subsequently acquitted in October 1995. After the trial Joseph Bosco, one of four book authors who had had reserved seats in the courtroom every day, followed up on the Cantor homicide in his book ''A Problem of Evidence''. He reported that the Cantor family had set up a tip hotline for information about Cantor's death, but had it directed to them rather than the LAPD, and only shared one tip they received, which the police were unable to proceed with. Cantors family havepublicly dismissed any connection between Cantors death and the Simpson case; privately, Bosco wrote, friends of the family told him they believed the cases were related.<ref name="A Problem of Evidence" /> |
||
The LAPD detectives assigned to the Cantor case at the time Bosco inquired about it also denied any connection.<ref name="A Problem of Evidence" /> Dallas [[private investigator]] [[William Dear (detective)|William Dear]] likewise |
The LAPD detectives assigned to the Cantor case at the time Bosco inquired about it also denied any connection.<ref name="A Problem of Evidence" /> Dallas based [[private investigator]] [[William Dear (detective)|William Dear]] likewise asserted, in the course of writing a book in 2014 ''O.J. Simpson Is Innocent And I Can Prove It'' that Cantor was a diversion by the Simpson defense, whom he believed were protecting Simpson's son Jason. Bosco stated he learned that Cantor was under investigation by the [[FBI]] for possible involvement in the drug trade at the time of his death.<ref name="William Dear book">{{cite book |last1=Dear |first1=William |authorlink1=William Dear (detective) |title=O.J. Simpson Is Innocent And I Can Prove It: The Shocking Truth about the Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman |date=2014 |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |isbn=9781632200723 |page=248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1PTBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT248 |accessdate=July 11, 2018}}</ref> |
||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
Revision as of 09:04, 30 July 2018
Brett Cantor | |
|---|---|
 Undated photo of Cantor | |
| Born | November 5, 1967[citation needed] New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 1993 (aged 25) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Homicide |
| Resting place | Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1990–1993 |
| Employer | Chrysalis Music Group |
| Known for | Signing Jane's Addiction and Rage Against the Machine, co-owning the Dragonfly nightclub and possible connection of death to O. J. Simpson murder case |
| Parent |
|
Brett Cantor (November 5, 1967 – July 30, 1993) was an American record label executive, concert promoter and nightclub owner. Born in New York, the son of Paul Cantor, who managed acts such as B. J. Thomas and Dionne Warwick, he moved to the Los Angeles area in the early 1970s with his family. In the early 1990s, as an A&R executive for Chrysalis Music Group.
After signing Rage Against the Machine, Cantor left Chrysalis to work briefly as an agent and then a promoter, putting together some of the largest concert and dance events in the city at that time.[1] He also entered the nightclub business, taking a 10% stake in Dragonfly, a club known at the time for its 1970s and hip hop theme nights. At that time he was involved romantically with actress Rose McGowan.[2]
Cantor was found dead in his Hollywood home on July 30, 1993; he had been stabbed repeatedly in the upper body. No suspect has ever been identified and the investigation remains open. His death was the subject of renewed interest a year later, when, during preliminary motions in the trial of O. J. Simpson for the killings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman, Judge Lance Ito ruled that defense lawyers could have access to the investigatory file in the Cantor case. The defense had argued that the similarity of the three killings suggested the same person or persons had committed them.[3] It has also been argued in books on the case that Cantor knew both Goldman and Nicole, and thus they may have been killed over mutual involvement in possibly illegal business activities.
Life
Cantor was born in New York[1] in 1967.[citation needed] His father Paul, a former William Morris agent who had moved into managing musicians like Dionne Warwick and B. J. Thomas,[4] moved the family to Los Angeles four years later. In his young adulthood, cantor followed his father and older brothers Cliff and Marc into the music industry.[1]
At Chrysalis Music Group, Cantor worked as an A&R executive, looking for artists to sign and develop. In that capacity he signed Jane's Addiction and helped get Rage Against the Machine its first record contract. Both bands became stars of the early 1990s alternative rock scene.[1]
Cantor left Chrysalis to work, briefly, at the Agency for the Performing Arts. He then formed his own company called Underground Entertainment, which promoted raves. Events Underground organized at nightclubs, like Petting Zoo, Sanitarium, After Hours and L.A. Palooza were among the largest concert/dance parties in Los Angeles during that time.[1]
When nightclub owner Steve Edelson converted one of his Frolic Rooms, on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, into a different club called Dragonfly, Cantor came in as his partner, holding a 10% share in the business.[5] Dragonfly soon became known among the city's clubgoers for its theme nights. Wednesday nights were part of a series called Superfly, focusing on 1970s music, particularly disco, while Friday night's Riot featured hip hop.[1] The club was profitable for its owners.[5]
One spring 1993 night at Dragonfly Cantor met a young actress named Rose McGowan. The two soon became romantically involved; in her 2018 autobiography Brave McGowan credits him with helping her escape an abusive relationship that had led her to develop an eating disorder.[6] She considered him her soul mate.[2]
Death
Early on the morning of July 30, 1993, Cantor left another nightclub, Club 434. He is not known to have been seen alive after that. Later that day, his body was found at his Hollywood home a short distance from Dragonfly.[1]
Cantor had been stabbed 23 times around the head and arms. His throat had been cut almost to the point of decapitation.[6] Some accounts also report that he was given a Colombian necktie, his tongue pulled out through an incision in his lower jaw, as well.[5]
The body was found near Cantor's opened front door.[5] The investigation was moved from the local precinct to the downtown headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), where it continues. No suspect has ever been identified.[6]
Aftermath
Edelson was psychologically unable to Dragonfly after Cantor's death, and sold his interest shortly afterwards. "Being there felt wrong, and it still does today" he told Los Angeles magazine in 2012.[5] Cliff Cantor took over his brother's share and ran the club afterwards.[7]
Possible connection to Simpson and Goldman killings
Almost a year later, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson, former wife of American football player and actor O. J. Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, a waiter were found dead with similar injuries at her Browns home in Brentwood. Simpson was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and acquitted at trial.[8]
In September 1994, Simpson's lawyers moved to have Judge Lance Ito allow them to review the LAPD's file on he Cantor homicide. Like him, Brown and Goldman had been stabbed predominantly in the upper body, their throats severely cut.[9] Goldman's throat in particular had been cut by someone reaching from behind him, starting on the left side and moving upward to the right across the neck similar to the wound on Cantor. The killer, or at least one of them, of Brown and Goldman had also, according to the coroner, used a long thin blade, much like the one that had been used on Cantor.[10]
Ito granted the motion three weeks later,[3] ruling that the material was "discoverable under Brady",[11] referring to the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brady v. Maryland that requires prosecutors to turn over any potentially exculpatory evidence their investigations uncover to the defense.[12] The Simpson defense team also noted that the similarity of the killings themselves was not the only connection between the three murders.[9] Goldman had once worked at Dragonfly, where he was seen together with Cantor by other employees, as a waiter, and Brown often went there with her friends to dance, raising the possibility that either or both were acquainted with Cantor.[10][11][13]
After the Simpson-Goldman murders, detectives questioned Edelson about opossible connections. Later a tabloid ran a story suggesting he was behind all three slayings. Edelson denied the claims saying."The whole thing was ridiculous, ... At the time there were some bad feelings in Hollywood about me."[5]
Simpson's defense, which admitted at the time it requested the files that they weren't sure there was connection, chose to focus primarily on the missteps made by police during the investigation and suggestions that much of the strongest evidence against him was planted or otherwise tampered with to implicate him and never brought the Cantor killing in to evidence.Simpson was subsequently acquitted in October 1995. After the trial Joseph Bosco, one of four book authors who had had reserved seats in the courtroom every day, followed up on the Cantor homicide in his book A Problem of Evidence. He reported that the Cantor family had set up a tip hotline for information about Cantor's death, but had it directed to them rather than the LAPD, and only shared one tip they received, which the police were unable to proceed with. Cantors family havepublicly dismissed any connection between Cantors death and the Simpson case; privately, Bosco wrote, friends of the family told him they believed the cases were related.[11]
The LAPD detectives assigned to the Cantor case at the time Bosco inquired about it also denied any connection.[11] Dallas based private investigator William Dear likewise asserted, in the course of writing a book in 2014 O.J. Simpson Is Innocent And I Can Prove It that Cantor was a diversion by the Simpson defense, whom he believed were protecting Simpson's son Jason. Bosco stated he learned that Cantor was under investigation by the FBI for possible involvement in the drug trade at the time of his death.[14]
See also
- Crime in Los Angeles
- List of unsolved deaths
- Murder of Michael Nigg, 1995 shooting death of a friend of Goldman's also believed by Simpson defense to possibly be connected to his and Nicole's killing
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "A&R exec Cantor slain". Variety. August 3, 1993. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Goodman, Lizzy (January 3, 2018). "The Making of Rose McGowan, Decorated General in the War Against the Patriarchy". Elle. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Noble, Kenneth (September 22, 1994). "Simpson's Attempt to Bar Evidence Is Turned Down". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ Barnes, Mike (January 29, 2014). "Paul Cantor, Agent, Manager and Record Label Exec, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Gardetta, Dave (December 28, 2012). "Steve Edelson, Party of One". Los Angeles. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c McRady, Rachel (January 30, 2018). "Rose McGowan Tells All in New Memoir 'Brave': 14 Shocking Allegations". ET Online. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ Braxton, Greg; Siegmund, Heidi (November 9, 1993). "The Club Scene, Running on Full : After Phoenix's Death, It's Business (Almost) as Usual at L.A. Hot Spots". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
- ^ Ayres Jr., B. Drummond (July 23, 1994). "'Absolutely' Not Guilty, A Confident Simpson Says". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ a b "Simpson Team Seeks Access to Police File on Unsolved Slaying in Hollywood". The Los Angeles Times. September 1, 1994. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ a b Freed, Donald; Briggs, Raymond P. (1996). Killing Time: The First Full Investigation Into the Unsolved Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. MacMillan. p. 149. ISBN 9780028613406.
- ^ a b c d Bosco, Joe (1996). A Problem of Evidence: How the Prosecution Freed O.J. Simpson. William Morrow. p. 94–96. ISBN 9780688144135.
- ^ Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)
- ^ Bailey, F. Lee; Rabe, Jean (2008). When the Husband is the Suspect. MacMillan. pp. 103–04. ISBN 9780765316134.
- ^ Dear, William (2014). O.J. Simpson Is Innocent And I Can Prove It: The Shocking Truth about the Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 248. ISBN 9781632200723. Retrieved July 11, 2018.