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."
What a nice article. What a sad day.
Sando, a veteran publicity and marketing executive who has worked at CBS, King World Prods and Turner Broadcasting
Yup, that would explain it - wouldn't have been hired at any of those places if he not.
There was a talk show on the car radio tonight. The comment was: If we get to see the video of Obama in college then he probably died of natural causes. If we never see the video then he was whacked.
That's what you said.
I never said anything about him drinking. I said..2 beers in a couple hours isn't much.
Your post is a bit odd....
His partner was just on Hannity and said the tapes will be released on Hannity in the next week or two.
Your post is very odd.
Are you aware in CA that you do not have to look or act drunk to get a DUI? You merely have to have had a drink and get behind the wheel.
He was wise to WALK to a neighborhood bar and avoid the problem. Yet I’m sure you would get behind the wheel and take a chance of getting popped!
Boy, you can say that again. God bless indeed.
Yes, that will be the litmus test. If, on the other hand, the tapes never appear, we'll know there was foul play.
Of course, the tapes could be altered to scrub out the most incriminating parts. But that wouldn't fly, with so many video experts out there. It wouldn't take more than 24 hours for a fake or a doctored video to fall apart.
I'm not going to walk you back thru it.....any more.
I will let other FReeper's make judgment on what I said, and what you said.
I can explain it to you, but I can't make you understand it.
Fair enough?
Don’t drink and drive. Andrew apparently agreed with me. He walked.
I value his judgement over yours. That’s just the way it is.
It wasn’t Rush Limbaugh who called the police, it was his security people.
Although my first thought and second was conspiratorial, I watched his entire CPAC speech and he looked healthy but seemed to loose his place a few times and studdered a bit more than usuall. We can only hope that he insired many to take up the torch and carry it down the road to victory. He was one who told it like it is, no candy coating and he had balls of steel, god bless you andy you are a true patriot. Hope he gave these tapes to others besides Hannity
Although my first thought and second was conspiratorial, I watched his entire CPAC speech and he looked healthy but seemed to loose his place a few times and studdered a bit more than usuall. We can only hope that he insired many to take up the torch and carry it down the road to victory. He was one who told it like it is, no candy coating and he had balls of steel, god bless you andy you are a true patriot. Hope he gave these tapes to others besides Hannity
Andrew was a true patriot. I still can’t believe that he’s gone. I wish this was just some sick joke and he will start tweeting again. He was always tweeting, I always looked forward to reading his tweets. He was such a wonderful man, a wonderful human being. We must all carry the torch for him and continue his legacy. He stood up for what was right, and he was never afraid to say what was on his mind.
Oh trust me I went through the conspiracy theories too, at first, but from what people close to him are saying, he had heart issues, even at 43 a person can die suddenly of a heart attack. My friend’s uncle died of a massive heart attack at 46, went to work, everything seemed fine, sat at his deck and died. Turns out he had an 80 percent blockage in his main artery, no symptoms, he was a heavy smoker though but still his death was unexpected.
God Bless Andrew Breitbart and his beautiful family.
meant to say desk not deck
I don’t know that the comment was an insult, depending on the size of the person in many states you can test above allowable on the BAC test with as little as one drink in two hours. Anyone planning to drink any amount would be wise to avoid driving. You do not have to be drunk to get a DUI, only what the state considers “impaired” which can take very little alcohol.
Being the recipient of the insult, there appear to be 2 or 3 non-Californians who are adamant that a DUI is only given when falling down drunk.
DUIs are handed out for much less in California. And are bad as you cannot live here without a car.
I applaude Breitbart for walking instead of driving if indeed that is what happened last night.
Rest in peace, Andrew.
And I'd ask any FReeper to review our exchange, and see it differently...
You've been around awhile....I'm surprised you are acting like you are.
Most states have a very low number now that is possible for many to exceed with 1 or 2 drinks, not just CA. I think some are thinking about the distant past where if you weren’t falling down drunk- and in some cases even if you were- officer friendly would tell you to carefully drive home. Now you most certainly do not have to be drunk or even close to being drunk to get a DUI in most states.
I am shocked at your callous attitude as well.
Maybe you should be exposed to California’s hard drinking/driving rules to put it in context. If so, you would be proud of Breitbart as I am if he walked for that purpose to the neighborhood bar.
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