An audience with the organisers of the Oscar goodie bags

It is now 20 years since the Academy discontinued its official Oscars goodie bag after an IRS crackdown that treated the contents as non-cash compensation. Almost immediately, beneficent gifting moguls moved in, turning luxury hotel rooms and spas into gifting suites where expensive items are pressed on A-listers in the hope of social-media mentions.

The town’s most prominent gifting supremo is Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets. I visited a spa just off Sunset Boulevard where the gifts were laid out: a luxury T-shirt with an anti-ICE message, a state-of-the-art electric flosser, a customised prenup, an envelope with details for a Costa Rica stay worth $30,000 and another in Ibiza worth $65,000, a glittery “hydro jug” and five different cannabis brands (legal in LA, but can’t be shipped out of state).

“It’s just under $350,000-worth for all of the bag for each person,” Fary says, pointing to luggage tagged “Michael B Jordan” and “Kate Hudson”. His “Everybody Wins” bags are delivered directly; recipients have to do nothing.

United States, Los Angeles

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