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The June 13, 2000 version of the tabloid Nationwide Enquirer carried a grim warning for the party-loving blonde splashed throughout its entrance web page.
‘O.J. Assaults lover: You will die like Nicole,’ blared the headline, a none-too-subtle reference to the grisly 1994 killing of Nicole Brown Simpson.
The younger girl photographed cozying as much as O.J. Simpson was Christie Prody, the previous NFL star’s newest squeeze and a lifeless ringer for the ex-wife he was infamously cleared of murdering.
Prody did not find yourself lifeless however their on-again, off-again romance did ultimately fizzle.
That specific tabloid tryst is lengthy forgotten however what lives on is the comical picture of Prody and O.J. goofing round in a sombrero – and the extraordinary story of the way it happened.
Superstar photographer Manny Hernandez shared the story behind the notorious picture of O.J. Simpson after which girlfriend Christie Prody with mariachis at Caffe Abbracci in 2000, in an unique interview with DailyMail.com
The comical picture of Prody and O.J. goofing round in a sombrero made the entrance cowl of the Nationwide Enquirer’s June 13, 2000 difficulty beneath a headline issuing a grim warning for the party-loving blonde
Amongst his newest assortment is a 1999 snap of Slovenian mannequin Melania Knauss taken at a celebration for Ocean Drive journal at Bar Room, Miami Seaside, 1999. On the time, the previous first girl was courting now husband Donald Trump and was ‘pretty reserved,’ Hernandez stated
Donald Trump leaving Liquid nightclub, Miami Seaside, 1998. Hernandez described recognizing the long run president on the Miami celebration scene or internet hosting galas at his Palm Seaside residence, Mar-a-Lago and the way he would ‘make his means into all the photographs’
It is one in every of quite a few surreal scenes depicted in an upcoming ebook by showbiz photographer Manny Hernandez who marked the launch by giving DailyMail.com an unique glimpse into his archive.
‘I {photograph} the well-known and the notorious. And I by no means ask too many questions,’ laughed Hernandez, 52, recalling his chaotic encounter with The Juice.
Photographer Manny Hernandez at 22 years previous
Hernandez was heading inside Caffe Abbracci, a sleek Italian eatery in his native Miami, to search for O.J. when he noticed a mariachi band serenading close by diners with guitars and trumpets.
‘I advised the mariachis: “Hey O.J. desires to satisfy you and take your image”. They had been ecstatic,’ he recalled.
‘I went into the opposite room and stated: “Hey O.J. the mariachis need to meet you”. All of them got here into the room and it simply occurred, O.J. grabbed a guitar, one of many guys put a hat on him.
‘It wasn’t precisely standard however everybody had numerous enjoyable and I bought my footage.’
Hernandez made his title chronicling the array of stars who flocked to Magic Metropolis’s pulsating dance golf equipment and neon-lit seashore events within the Nineteen Nineties.
Over the previous three a long time he has photographed the likes of J.Lo, Charlie Sheen, Dennis Hopper, and Donald Trump, together with seven different US presidents courting again to Jimmy Carter.
His assortment contains Invoice Clinton paramour Monica Lewinsky and ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who flew in for a ebook signing and was lauded by Cuban exiles who shared the Iron Woman’s loathing for socialism.
There’s additionally an unlikely shot of former Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev taken as he left a Miami Seaside restaurant throughout a visit to the States within the late 90s.
‘I requested how his dinner was and he stated, ‘good steak’. It wasn’t a lot however I will take it from the person who helped carry down the Berlin Wall,’ Hernandez chuckled, imitating Gorbachev’s thick Russian accent.
Hernandez shot a number of younger starlets, a few of whom he had by no means heard of.
A kind of was Christina Aguilera who was about to go international together with her 1999 smash hit, Genie in a Bottle.
Juan Estefan and Jennifer Lopez dancing on the Fontainbleau Hilton, Miami Seaside, 1998
Hernandez recalled how he encountered a candy, shy Colombian singer, who was largely unknown within the US on the time, when she introduced her mother and pop alongside to her shoot. It was none apart from Shakira. She is seen at Residing Room, Miami Seaside, 1995
Eddie Murphy along with his bodyguards arriving at Nuestra Belleza magnificence pageant on the James L. Knight, Miami, 1993
A candy, shy Colombian singer, largely unknown within the US, introduced her mother and pop alongside to her shoot. It was none apart from Shakira.
Then there have been his efforts to {photograph} the ever-elusive Prince, who owned Grand Slam Nightclub in Miami Seaside however tended to carry out in near-darkness.
‘He was at all times eccentric, very shy. When he was on stage they stated he had a button on the ground which he would hit when he wished a lightweight on him,’ Hernandez recalled.
‘You may get three songs and the primary is in pitch darkness. I am a very good photographer however I can not shoot in the dead of night.’
Raised in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, Hernandez dabbled in music and DJing however found images in school.
His instructor grumbled that he wasn’t taking footage of canine and flowers like the remainder of the category.
However whereas his friends had been submitting work to the scholar newspaper at FIU, Hernandez was combing the golf equipment for exclusives he may promote to the Miami Herald to make ends meet.
He tapped into Miami’s standing because the ‘Hollywood of Latin music’ and started to take pictures of late Mexican singer Selena, Gloria Estefan, and legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz.
Columnist Dave Barry shoots a wry take a look at Monica Lewinsky at her ebook signing in Coral Gables, Florida, 1999
Lengthy earlier than Fashionable Household, Sofia Vergara appeared in Florida on the arm of Enrique Iglesias. Hernandez additionally captured Dennis Hopper posing with a Chanel shoe at a photograph shoot at Massive Time Productions on the Paris Theater, Miami Seaside, 1997
Gina Lollobrigida and Ivana Trump at a profit on the Bentley Lodge, Miami Seaside, 1999
The late Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz was in Key Biscayne, Florida, in 1995 when Hernandez shot her getting out of her automobile. Cruz died aged 77 in 2003
‘Miami did not have the fanfare of New York or LA. Folks would come for the weekend to go away the highlight and let free just a little. They let their guard down,’ Hernandez defined.
‘I’d get ideas from everyone from waiters to restaurant house owners saying, guess who’s right here. Folks gave me entry as a result of I used to be well mannered, respectful. I wasn’t intrusive.’
The thriving Latin scene was turning into a significant draw for mainstream celebs, resulting in a 1993 encounter with one of many greatest actors of the period, Eddie Murphy.
‘I used to be a younger man, 20-something years previous. I did not anticipate to see a world-renowned star at one in every of these occasions. All of a sudden I am taking a look at Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop,’ stated Hernandez.
Fernandez tapped into Miami’s standing because the ‘Hollywood of Latin music’ and started to take pictures stars equivalent to Queen of Tejano Selena within the 12 months earlier than her 1995 homicide
Christina Aguilera was one other customer to Miami who Hernandez shot whereas she labored with Rudy Perez Spanish language model of Genie in a Bottle.
Hollywood dangerous boy Charlie Sheen was one other star who Hernandez shot
Singers Emilio and Gloria Estefan had been captured on the launch of MTV Latino in Miami Seaside in 1993
‘The bodyguards let me shoot however after they wanted to push me out of the way in which they did. I virtually bought run over by his limo.
‘The adrenaline was actually pumping. Throughout that point I used to be capturing movie. You shot what you had, ten exposures, 15 exposures.
‘It was very completely different to having a 1 gig card and capturing 2,000 footage in a second.’
Trump is one other larger-than-life determine who options often in Hernandez’s again catalog, both hitting the Miami celebration scene or internet hosting galas at his Palm Seaside residence, Mar-a-Lago.
‘On the time he was the massive mogul from New York. He would work the room and make his means into all the photographs. I do not know if he chased fame or if fame chased him,’ stated Hernandez.
Amongst his newest assortment is a 1999 snap of Slovenian mannequin Melania Knauss taken at a celebration for Ocean Drive journal.
The long run Mrs. Trump seemed into the digicam with one thing akin to a faint smile – or maybe a gentle glare – as she clutched a duplicate of the journal bearing her picture on the quilt.
‘She wasn’t married to Donald Trump on the time, they had been courting. Melania was pretty reserved, perhaps as a result of she did not converse a lot English and was a lot youthful than Trump.
Raised in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, Hernandez dabbled in music and DJing however found images in school. He spent his school years combing the golf equipment for exclusives he may promote to the Miami Herald to make ends meet
‘However she beloved her cowl, that is for certain,’ Hernandez remarked.
Hernandez frolicked in New York the place he honed his abilities beneath the tutelage of legendary showbiz photographer Ron Galella, the so-called ‘Godfather’ of paparazzi, who died final 12 months at age 91.
Galella would famously go to excessive lengths to get his shot, as soon as spending days locked in a warehouse to be in place to snap intimate pictures of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor bickering over breakfast.
His dedication to his craft left a deep impression on Hernandez, who has devoted CANDIDS Miami 2, which launches this weekend, to his mentor and shut buddy.
Hernandez has labored for the likes of Getty, Ocean Drive, and the New York Occasions however he is by no means had any qualms about promoting his photographs to the tabloids – or capturing the wild characters they’re taken with.
However he cautioned: ‘There is a cautious line between being obnoxious and being respectful. I by no means cover in bushes. I would not stand outdoors a restaurant ready hours for folks, that is for certain.
‘You can get an image of any person slipping and falling on the ground however that is not what I am searching for. I prefer to seize moments. One thing distinctive, one thing candid. There’s an artistry to this factor.’
CANDIDS Miami 2 is printed by Wynwood Books and launches this weekend on the Miami E book Honest
