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It turns out that ecclesiastical robes weren’t all Raffaello Follieri had in his closet! In the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, reporter Michael Schnayerson provides the most detailed look yet at how the Italian developer ended up dumped by his movie-star girlfriend and languishing in prison, right down to the sleepy-pants he wore the night before his arrest.
As always when he got ready for bed, Follieri changed into a dark-blue or black Ralph Lauren polo shirt and white shorts. Nearby, as always, was his good-luck charm: a large green plastic frog, about nine inches high and wide.
And you know what? Follieri may have exaggerated his Vatican contacts and spent a shade too much of his investors’ money on himself, but as you might have guessed, a man who wears pajamas and keeps a goofy good-luck charm can’t be all bad.
We’ve been feeling like Anne Hathaway was the victim here, but Vanity Fair reminds us that Follieri wasn’t so terrible: He did manage to do a significant amount of charity work, and he may not be any more deluded and cocky and arrogant than all the other high-flying dudes out there playing with OPM (other people’s money). Among the revelations in Vanity Fair — which include the fact that John McCain once paid a visit to Follieri on his rented yacht — is the fact that just days before he was thrown in the can and slapped with $21 million in bail, Follieri was not only still doing business with Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa, he was close to completing a deal with an investor that could have left him not only free but actually, for-real rich. In fact, if Follieri hadn’t been so visible, he probably would have gotten away with it. It may have been his association with Anne Hathaway, whom Follieri’s people tell Vanity Fair was a “drama queen,” that put the nails in his coffin. “The U.S. attorney doesn’t get out of bed for [the sort of charges filed against Follieri],” a source tells the magazine. “If Raffaello wasn’t dating Anne Hathaway, this wouldn’t have happened.” Who knew? Even the U.S. attorney’s office reads Us Weekly.
Related: Raffaello Follieri’s Big Lie
