Posted on 03/01/2012 4:00:00 PM PST by iowamark
Marketing executive Arthur Sando tells THR about his lengthy debate with the conservative activist at The Brentwood; they said goodbye around 11:30 p.m., 50 minutes before Breitbart was pronounced dead.
Andrew Breitbart spent his final hours much like he lived most of his life: passionately talking politics.
Breibart, the 43-year-old conservative pundit and provocateur who died suddenly early Thursday while walking near his Los Angeles home, had stopped into The Brentwood, a nearby bar and restaurant. There, he struck up a conversation with Arthur Sando, a marketing executive who didn't know Breitbart but likely was the last person to talk extensively with him before he died.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sando says he arrived at the bar in the tony Brentwood section of L.A. around 10 p.m. and soon the empty seat next to his was filled by a man with a familiar face.
"I tried to figure out how I knew him," says Sando, a veteran publicity and marketing executive who has worked at CBS, King World Prods and Turner Broadcasting. "He was on his BlackBerry. And I said 'Andrew?' I told him I had seen his work."
Sando says the duo quickly struck up a conversation that would last a little less than two hours.
"He was friendly and engaging," Sando recalls. "I said, 'You can't be very happy with the slate of Republican candidates' and he said, 'Why would you say that?' I said, 'Well, they're talking about contraception,' and he said, 'The conversation is being framed by the liberal media.' I said, 'Well, the media isn't writing Rick Santorum’s speeches for him.' We had a back-and-forth for awhile until we said we weren’t going to agree on some things."
The friendly debate continued in the bar as Breitbart sipped red wine, says Sando. "We just hit it off, he was delightful. There were other people who sat down and joined the conversation."
Sando also mentioned that he hadn't seen Breitbart as a guest on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher recently; Breitbart told Sando he enjoyed going on Maher's show because it taught him how to deal with a hostile audience and how to react when getting booed.
Breitbart had stopped in for a drink but wasn't there to meet anyone in particular, Sando says. Nor were there any signs of health or other problems.
"He wasn’t drinking excessively," Sando recalls. "He was on his BlackBerry a lot."
After the two hours, Breitbart said he was leaving. "We exchanged contact information," Sando says. "We were going to get together."
Sando says he was "shocked" to read Thursday morning that Breitbart, who had a history of heart problems, had collapsed while on a walk near his home in the same neighborhood as the bar. Breitbart was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead at 12:19 a.m., according to Reuters, less than an hour after leaving The Brentwood.
The exact cause of death has not been revealed but initial reports said it was natural causes.
"There were no signs that anything was wrong," says Sando. "It's very sad."
I don’t know what is more offensive, the prices or them calling a 20 oz. steak, a steak for two.
Meh. We pay prices like that in local pubs. Of course, our scenery around here is much more spectacular...
Beg pardon.
The article says he sipped a glass or two of wine while engaged in a chat with the gentleman.
It also makes note that the place was within comfortable walking distance to his home.
IMO, your comment is very misleading and insulting to Mr. Breitbart.
If you can't say nothing good.....well you know the rest.
What article did you read?
Here’s the quote:
“Sando says the duo quickly struck up a conversation that would last a little less than two hours.”
Clearly Breitbart sat the the bar next to Sando and spoke with several at the bar. What’s your beef? Drinking for 2 hours is not unusual.
I work right down the street. Went to Marymount Catholic Girl’s school just blocks away for most of my childhood. I grew up in the area and know Brentwood and the Brentwood establishment well.
You are wildly off base!
That isn’t what I am talking about. When someone wants to get you, they could do so in your own backyard.
Bad stuff doesn’t always happen in honky tonks.
I have no proof of anything, but I know many people threatened Breitbart daily.
Don’t people who have heart conditions normally take medication to control it? When people die of heart attacks, don’t the announcements of their deaths normally include the specific cause rather than the evasive term ‘’natural causes’’?
It’s easier for me to believe that the Reichstag fire in 1933 Germany was caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow than that a relatively young man who less than a month before had announced he was about to release explosive tapes featuring Barack Obama died of natural causes, or a heart attack, or anything less than foul play.
If it was an innocent heart attack, of course the tapes will still be released soon, as Andrew Breitbart would have wanted. We’ll see.
When I heard about this, my first thought was to wonder if someone with an umbrella walked by him on his way home.
I’m still wondering.
“When I heard about this, my first thought was to wonder if someone with an umbrella walked by him on his way home.
I’m still wondering.”
Why? Numerous people close to Breitbart said today he had a bad ticker.
Not saying this is what caused his death but drinking alcohol can raise the Blood Pressure and if someone is already suffering from hypertension can possibly cause heart attack or stroke. Please check if you have high BP and get it under control. Its called ‘the silent killer’ for good reason.
I’m with you on that.
There goes that theory on red wine...
Those are typical prices at nice restaurants in big cities.
Weird he posted all day on a blackberry and posted his last post on an ipad..
I missed the ipad thing. Where did that come from ?
There fixed it.
What I’d like to know is did anyone see him during the minutes preceding his collapse, and did they see any pedestrians or vehicles in the area at the time.
It depends on the type of heart condition. Many young people have died from sudden cardiac arrest because of heart rhythm problems caused by heart enlargement. However, if such a condition was known he should have had an implanted defibrillator. Medication can help, but not everyone can tolerate it or they forget to take it.
OTOH, if I'm in the Chicago mob and want to get rid of someone, I'd research their medical condition.
“a relatively young man who less than a month before had announced he was about to release explosive tapes featuring Barack Obama”
Fatal heart attacks in 42 year old men is less than 1% probability.
The Breitbart connection here seems to be that Rush got nervous today and took no chances when he had a suspicion. Why was he nervous if he believed Breitbart died of natural causes? This bomb scare is not necessarily a coincidence, but indicates that Rush was either paranoid or has honest reason to believe the Breitbart death was not caused by natural causes.
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