Robin Leach Virtually Brings our April Fool’s Joke to a Larger Audience – MGM/Bellagio Respond: Not so!


Robin Leach almost gave our April Fool’s joke some credibility, considering the source.

UPDATE 5/23: Robin’s article was pulled by LVRJ this morning.

At least when we posted our April Fool’s joke about the Bellagio Fountains closing to be replaced with a shopping plaza we made it somewhat clear that it was an April Fool’s joke. In an almost deja-vu fashion, Robin Leach over at the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a similar story yesterday titled “Bellagio Fountains to close after Drake’s Billboard Music Awards performance?”

In the article Robin states:

“I can confirm that preliminary discussions have been held among top MGM Resorts execs for the 22 million-gallon, 8.5-acre lagoon site of The Bellagio Fountains to be drained and replaced with a boutique shopping and restaurant promenade.”

Gosh, this sounds familiar….let’s look at the headline from our April Fool’s joke article: “Shopping Plaza Could Replace Bellagio Fountains in Five Years

Is it possible that at some point, somewhere, a couple of years ago that this idea may have come up with executives when TI got rid of Sirens for a CVS? Or, maybe, when the Grand Bazaar shops were being constructed? Possibly.

Robin goes on later in the article…

“It’s incredibly valuable real estate that earns the hotel nothing. It has had a long run as a tourist attraction, but now it’s time to make it a revenue earner,” I was told.

That quote sounds a little familiar, let’s look at ours from our April Fool’s joke: “Although the Bellagio Fountains are a beloved piece of Las Vegas, it is prime real estate closer to the strip that simply wasn’t making any money.”

Responding to Robin’s tweet of his article was Jenn Michaels:

Jenn is the Head of PR for MGM Resorts.

Later that evening MGM released an official statement:

Now, if we were the powers that be at MGM and Bellagio, we simply wouldn’t be as poised. We would have used different wording:

Since MGM’s statement, the title of Robin’s article has changed to “MGM Resorts denies rumor of Bellagio Fountains closure post-Drake performance.”

Robin’s article goes on to say that their source still claims that discussions did happen and that a “decision will be made in June.” I’m thinking that with the backlash that occurred across the internet yesterday, that if there really was a decision to be made…they made it in their statement yesterday “We have no plans or intention to eliminate the iconic Bellagio Fountains, one of the most identifiable tourism landmarks in the world.”

To be fair, I’d like to thank Robin for taking the scenario of our April Fool’s joke to a much larger audience, which helped to qualm some of the fears it presented, as without Robin’s reach, MGM would have never given us the peace in knowing that the fountains aren’t going anywhere.

Although, “for now..” as Scott Roeben would say.

[Cover: Michael Movestro | Other images by MGM Resorts, Twitter, and a modified MGM Resorts image in parody by Michael Movestro]

14 thoughts on “Robin Leach Virtually Brings our April Fool’s Joke to a Larger Audience – MGM/Bellagio Respond: Not so!

  1. You’ve made the big time now, as you’ve not made it as a Vegas site until The Leech rips off one of your articles.

    1. We would like to thank all those who made this possible. The fans…MTV….*wipes tear*

  2. The update to the article last night, expressing vindication because MGM’s response didn’t deny the conversation had taken place, was priceless.

    1. I saw that too, I was reading it as it updated. I literally *face-palmed*

  3. it IS a huge valuable piece of real estate. for that reason, WITHOUT having inside information, one would not be surprised if they did something else with it down the road. no rumors or crystal ball needed to come to that conclusion. I can come up with that and I am not getting paid like Robin Leach.

  4. I say they dome it and surround it with a 3 story shopping / restaurant plaza…pay to see the show and block the view from them varmints Caesars and Cosmopolitan resorts….they wouldn’t need to have any big sidewalk out front and could develop to almost the curb…maybe move the adventure dome down from circus circus. Talk about profit plan!!! JUST KIDDING….or am I?

  5. I commented on another board about this, we would be foolish to think MGM did not have this discussion at some level in their organization. In what Vegas playbook are the fountains off limits? They are almost 20 years old (a lifetime in Vegas years). Bellagio’s neighboring hotels reap benefits at MGM’s expense. The fountains are baked into the DNA at their property, but the Japanese Kabuki show last year showed they are willing to try new things. I could completely see a re-imagining of the fountains given the technology is getting a bit dated to what places like Disney are doing with water features. I could see a projection type performance attraction with mixed use dining / retail strip side that retains the fountains in a new way that drives revenue. As for the PR message, no good marketing person in their right mind would admit a major change like the fountains going away, unless they were ready to announce something bigger and better. File this one in rumor that could happen. There is more truth in fiction then we would like to believe.

    1. The SteveO thinks giving away free attractions in Vegas today is akin to leaving money on the table.

  6. No one has mentioned this as a prime L.V. Raiders practice facility site?

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