Getting into a party is not unlike making it big in Hollywood. Either you prove your worth, know someone who knows someone, or be so ubiquitous that queues and lists don’t apply to you. Once inside, the next opportunity presents itself: working a room full of Los Angeles’ unruly cast of characters, from reality stars to viral sensations and industry leaders, pop artists to drag queens and… that person you see at every event, but don’t entirely understand what they do. (Hugs and air kisses, regardless!) Any given crowd in Tinsel Town can have millions of followers combined, with celebrities that all arrived believing in themselves — sometimes delusionally — before the rest of the world finally took notice.
For PAPER People LA, which follows our 40th Anniversary New York City cover series, we wanted to end the year with some famous friends keeping the West Coast interesting. On any given day in sunny LA, you could rub shoulders with Lisa Rinna (in this case, dressed like a gothic Balenciaga alien) or swap gossip with Tana Mongeau while sucking back a vape. You might find yourself waiting for an Uber XL on Sunset Boulevard alongside Rebecca Black or get caught in the crossfire of The Cobrasnake snapping shots of the Queen of Melrose (in this case, dressed like a vampy sequined villain). And even though clubs close at 2 AM, there’s always an after party somewhere in the Hills (as Channel Tres sings, “We ain’t leavin’/ ‘Til six in the morning”).
It’s all nonstop chaos and magic. Few can handle it, but everyone wishes they could — and PAPER has been on the frontlines to document and celebrate it all since first launching in 1984. Below, learn a bit more about PAPER people we love, in a special dinner party shoot inspired by our own archives. We cast each cover group to be as random and dizzying as any night out in LA — so if you’re wondering why? That’s exactly correct.
— Justin Moran, Editor-in-Chief
Cover one is a collaboration between H&M and PAPER.
What’s your craziest LA memory?
Rickey Thompson: I’ve had so many crazy memories. I would have to say when me and my friends went to Disneyland for the first time. We packed an Uber XL. It was like 10 of us, girl. It was crazy, but it was fun.
Mette: I just make people come over and I DJ for them. My house has turned into the greatest house party in the world.
Rebecca Black: My craziest LA memories probably happened when I was too drunk to remember them.
What makes LA special?
Rickey Thompson: All my family’s here, my friends are here, I love the sun. I’ve been here for 10 years, I made this city mine. It was always my dream, so I’m glad I’m here.
Mette: I’ve lived here in so many iterations of my life. I moved here fresh from college and I was a dancer for years, lived in the Valley. I ran around with everything from jazz shoes to high tops and skis — anything I needed to audition for a role was in the back of my car. I came back here this year to make music after a stint away for five and a half years. Obviously, I’ve grown up and I started making music, so coming back here as a musician with a different discipline that I’m trying to cultivate has been crazy. LA has always been here to propel me to the next chapter in my life.
Rebecca Black: I’ve lived in LA for — I’m coming up on my 10th year. It is a place that I was so close to growing up, but really knew nothing about until I graduated high school and came out here. It is what has bred my individuality, funny enough, which I feel like it doesn’t have a reputation for.
Where do you go in LA to escape?
Rickey Thompson: I love going to Soho in Malibu.
Mette: Pilates, as we all do, to become one with my breath and my body, and get out of my head. I root myself in Pilates and form, and that always makes me feel peaceful.
Rebecca Black: I go to Orange County or Joshua Tree, two very different vibes. That’s what’s so amazing about LA and growing up in California. You’re so close to so many different types of environments to find exactly what you want.
What’s your craziest LA memory?
Shamu Azizam: Doing landscape photoshoots, there’s been so many instances where we pick a location and pull some stunts, and a lot of them involve heavy costuming. I had this full metal, medieval armored suit in the middle of August. It’s scorching heat. We tried to start early, but it didn’t matter. I’m wearing this huge Tin Man outfit, and it’s like 70 pounds and I’m climbing on these rocks and doing all these poses. I’m super dehydrated and sweaty, and it’s such a full-body experience. Then I get home and the day after my butt is covered in poison ivy. I’m stuck with poison ivy for a month, but we have these really great photos. That’s LA to me, sacrificing a lot to make something beautiful.
Spice: The craziest moments are when I’m in full drag and I’m going to the Spirit Halloween or Home Depot. Those are fun because you take our art and throw yourself to the wolves, the locals. I like shaking them up.
Sugar: Going to the local Trader Joes in drag, because that’s when I leave the house.
Terri Joe: Everything is crazy about it. Every time I come here, I feel like I gotta drown myself in light before I leave. There are so many negative spirits around, I gotta keep the Christian about me intact.
Bonnie McKee: I threw a Halloween party and it was completely out of control. This was in like 2012 and my house was suddenly full of celebrities. Pete Wentz was there, Shaun White was dressed as Pretty Woman, and Diplo showed up and started DJing. My neighbors were so mad, I had to write apology letters. I went to my neighbor’s house, and they were like, “Do you know what I found in my yard? A wine bottle and a pair of pants.” I was trying not to laugh because that means someone left without their pants.
Rio Uribe: I grew up here, so I have a lot of them. I remember being seven or eight years old, growing up in Koreatown and hearing a bunch of Asian people speaking Spanish. That was one of my very formative memories of, “Oh, you can be multicultural.”
Stevie Mackey: I remember my parents taking me to the beach in the morning and then camping in the mountains at night. Going from the beach to snow in one day didn’t take long. That shows you just the craziness that happens here. That’s when I said to myself, “I must live in a movie set. This is really weird.”
What makes LA special?
Shamu Azizam: LA is like nowhere else, especially if you’re living in America. Everybody’s here and everybody around the world is coming here, but it’s not like New York where everybody’s closed in on each other. There’s some space to actually go to a house party and meet people. It feels like a place where you can really lean on the weird and be yourself, figure yourself out. I feel like LA holds that space.
Spice: I wouldn’t be able to make it in New York because a hoe does get cold. We need to be able to wear our little tube tops and not be freezing. So if you see a vampire twink with an umbrella on the street just know, that’s probably Sugar or Spice.
Sugar: Well girl, I’m the tan twink. That’s the thing with being a New Yorker in LA. We stick out like sore thumbs because we’re walkers here and no one walks.
Terri Joe: Absolutely nothing about LA is special because it’s full of demons and devils and homosexuals. So there’s nothing special about it. Actually, it’s kind of trash.
Bonnie McKee: LA is a city of dreamers. You can be as wacky as you want and no one’s gonna judge you. You can say, “I have to charge my crystals,” and everyone’s like, “Of course,” no question. So I like that it’s a free-thinking city.
Rio Uribe: The people make it really special because everyone who is here grew up around Hollywood, celebrity, music, culture. But then also everyone who moves here has big dreams, so it’s constantly reinventing itself. And people are, for the most part, pretty excited and optimistic to be here. So you get to that jaded point, but the new implants and people that come to LA with dreams keep it very happy and fresh and exciting.
Stevie Mackey: LA is one of the only places in the world where you will not be judged for anything. You can say, “I’m gonna go ride a pink elephant around town,” and people say, “Great, that’s awesome.” It’s full of individuals. It’s so individualistic that we don’t even like mass transport. We like to be late in our own car.
Where do you go in LA to escape?
Shamu Azizam: That’s easy to do because 45 minutes anywhere outside of LA is gorgeous nature. I’m a big nature boy. That’s my art, nature photography and landscapes. There’s nothing like a west coast sunset. You can get on the 10, go to Santa Monica, go to the pier or go to the Angeles Forest. That’s why I live here, because of the options of. I can escape all the crazy traffic, and go out and not see anyone for miles.
Spice: Definitely walking in the Hills.
Sugar: I love walking through the Hills in Los Feliz, by Runyon Canyon. I think it’s a creative person, an artist person thing, where you need your downtime to recharge and supercharge your creative spirit. If you’re constantly around others, there’s so much noise. Isolating yourself on a walk does the trick.
Terri Joe: I like to go to church to, you know, spread the word of Jesus. But I would say back home to Louisiana, it’s where I feel most at home.
Bonnie McKee: I also love cemeteries, I love Hollywood Forever. That’s my favorite place to go to an event and it’s funny that everybody hangs out in cemeteries here. That’s something that I thought was so strange when I came to LA.
Rio Uribe: I either go to my mom’s house to eat some really yummy, home-cooked Mexican food, or I like to go up to the views where people go to park and make out. But I’m usually alone in my car listening to music.
Stevie Mackey: Number one, Malibu beach — I know it sounds generic, but I love going to Soho House in Malibu. I love going to Sunset Restaurant in Zuma [Beach]. I’ve been going since I was a kid. Also, I love the Arboretum in Arcadia. They have gardens that represent plants from all over the world. I love to go there and walk around and clear my mind.
What’s your craziest LA memory?
Isaac Dunbar: Oh god, definitely parties that I should’ve signed NDAs for. And that’s that.
Marsha Molinari: Oh, there’s so many. But it’s kind of magical that you can bump into Lana Del Rey at, like, a coffee shop, or Lisa Rinna at a photoshoot. I’m just constantly gagged.
Symone: When I first got here — I call this the boom boom gun — I lost my shoe and I left my phone in the Uber. That’s all I remember. I woke up and I had one shoe on and not a phone call to make. So fill in the blanks!
Lisa Rinna: The riots, ‘93. I was living on Orange, in Wilshire, and the riots were happening literally right outside my apartment. I don’t think I’ve ever come that close to that kind of violence. It was pretty frightening.
Channel Tres: Watching the “California Love” music video with Tupac and Dr. Dre, and seeing them do some shots around the corner from my house, and waking up and walking to school and thinking, Oh, this is where they shot the music video, oh snap!
What makes LA special?
Isaac Dunbar: People’s ambition and drive. It’s unlike any place I’ve seen. I’m inspired to be the best version of myself at all times, which ultimately gets me to where I want to be. Like sitting here.
Marsha Molinari: Growing up somewhere like central California, I dreamed of the movie magic and all the glam girls, and growing up queer myself, it just seemed like the place to be. When I had the chance I packed my bags and drove right here.
Symone: Well, it ain’t the food, we’ll start there. Let’s see, it’s the people, I think. Everyone that comes here has a dream or something they want to do. It’s its own little world.
Lisa Rinna: I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, really. It’s the whole vibe, the sun, the palm trees, the laidback-ness of it, the authenticity of what it is to itself. LA stays true to itself.
Channel Tres: It’s where I grew up, so it’s special for that. I grew up in a very rich musical culture, from the jazz musicians I know, the hip-hop legends, the foundations of west coast music. And the comedy is very rich out here. And being able to drive to the beach, all the scenery out here. And you can’t beat the weather. I’m lucky to be from here.
Where do you go in LA to escape?
Isaac Dunbar: I go to my home girl’s house. It’s so simple. I love a house, that’s my escape. Most people retreat to nature, I prefer the comfort of a home.
Marsha Molinari: I like to be out in nature, there’s lots of beautiful places to hike. Or I find escape through music. I have a DJ duo with my boyfriend, we like to lose ourselves in music.
Symone: I go home, either in Atlanta or to my studio in Koreatown.
Lisa Rinna: The beach. The water.
Channel Tres: I like going to Manhattan Beach. Or Bigsby Nose in Long Beach, you can go all the way to the park. I used to go there a lot when I was younger, and just think and dream.
What’s your craziest LA memory?
Tana Mongeau: For an entire year and a half I was living in a house in the Hollywood Hills, and the people who lived there before me were Justin Bieber and Juice WRLD and FaZe Clan. My neighbors were the Hype House and all the TikTokers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae, and next door was Post Malone and all his friends. We had an open door policy, so I would see everything in the world in my living room, whether it was a rap concert or chefs making us food with weed. I have so many stories from that time that I’m saving for a book.
Bonavega: I went to a gloryhole once.
Christina Milian: Basically all of my thirties. I partied my ass off. I feel like when I ended, so did the scene.
Carter Gregory: I love Beyoncé, and I got to go to her birthday show in LA for Renaissance and I actually met her that night on her birthday. It was a surreal, full-circle moment for me.
Heidi Montag: Well, today is a really fun one. And another recent one was performing at Subculture, that was incredible and really out of the norm of my daily mom life. But there’s also nothing that beats the 2007, 2008 clubbing era, height of the paparazzi. The world was just so different then.
What makes LA special?
Tana Mongeau: The people. Even if everyone has nothing in common, we moved here with a delusional belief in ourselves — the transplants, that is. When that’s great, it’s really great. My favorite thing about LA is how accepting it is. And LA can be so anonymous, you can be hiding in plain sight and be completely yourself.
Bonavega: The collective, highest form of any given art form and then the bottom-of-the-barrel punk vibe — LA does a good job of meshing those two things together. There’s really good DIY mixed with really high-end stuff.
Christina Milian: The weather is number one. I mean, it’s the definition of forever young. Something about the essence of the weather, staying warmer, that vitamin D, really kicks in and keeps you younger. And you can have a balance of work-life, though sometimes we do work a little too hard. And the beach, of course.
Carter Gregory: It’s a land of opportunity, a place where anyone can be whatever they want to be and pursue your dreams. There’s so much room for growth. Once you find the people you really care about here, they’ll be your rocks.
Heidi Montag: It’s the dream to be on the beach year-round. And it’s the place where you can make all your dreams come true.
Where do you go in LA to escape?
Tana Mongeau: I don’t think there’s such a thing as escaping LA, even when I’m in Malibu or somewhere that feels more remote, you still see the craziest shit happen. When I want to run away, I get the fuck out of LA.
Bonavega: The Self-Realization Center in Mount Washington. Or Las Vegas.
Christina Milian: Definitely Runyon Canyon. I love it there. Just at peace with nature, hustling up some damn hills — there’s some clarity. And the beach, too.
Carter Gregory: My bedroom. And I love driving, it’s the best time when I get to listen to music and unwind, windows down, listening to new artists. I love to drive to some beach area with a friend and chill out somewhere. And the dog park with my dog, Froggy.
Heidi Montag: My house.
What makes LA special?
Queen of Melrose: I’m not gonna lie, girl. I just came back from New York City and New York City has a vibe again. But I do love LA.
The Cobrasnake: LA created me. The Cobrasnake was born in LA, I grew up here. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I wasn’t from this place. Everything points at Hollywood, music, television. That was my big inspiration.
Mayah Hatcher: LA normalizes a lot of all these things that seem unattainable — these celebrities, you get exposed to so many kinds of people and existences. It’s special that you can come here feeling regular and be surrounded by people you might consider extraordinary, and it just feels regular. There’s a lot of inspiration that comes from being here.
Zana Bayne: The space. Walking around with my arms stretched out and not touching anyone or anything else. And being able to get to the beach in 20 minutes is incredible.
Mel 4Ever: It’s the most psychotic place on Earth, I swear to god, and I lived in New York for eight years. LA gives people so much room to be such fucking freaks, and everyone takes the opportunity, it seems.
Princess Gollum: It’s special to me personally because it’s where I was born, it’s given me so many things. We got the best Korean food, I have to say. And the pace is special, it’s always moving, but everyone’s a bit slower. Once you get used to the pace, it really unlocks things.
What’s your craziest LA memory?
Queen of Melrose: I don’t know if I can really say it right now. It’s not very G-rated. I did share it on a podcast… let’s do another one. Deontay Wilder, the heavyweight champion, I made all his outfits, his ring walk outfits. He goes, “I want something so intimidating.” Long story short, I go sit in the front row, watch the fight and he just gets demolished like a fucking rag doll. I was devastated, he was supposed to win in this fabulous outfit, right? But it was voted the best ring-walking outfit in boxing history. So I get a phone call from some magazine and they say, “Deontay says he lost because the outfit was too heavy.” So I was like, “I gotta talk to Deontay,” but he was in the hospital, because he was so fucked up. So I call him and he says, “No, that was my coach, I would never say that, I was just having an off day.”
The Cobrasnake: In high school I would go to AM/PM, they had a deal where you could get two hot dogs and a large soda for like $2. I’d be walking home from school eating these hot dogs and something disagreed with me. It all ended up on the sidewalk.
Mayah Hatcher: I recently booked Doechii just after she released her latest project — she came to us actually — and we held her release party. Also, I did this Calvin Klein campaign a few years ago and got to model with Solange, which was just like, Girl, what?
Zana Bayne: The first time I ever came to visit, I ended up taking samples to a Dita Von Tease shoot, but she was on jury duty. So I had all these samples in my trunk and went to Chateau [Marmont], and John Waters was there with an actress on his lap and an editor who was just doing blow off the table in the midst of dinner and bolognese. So I was like, “Oh, this is LA, I love this.”
Mel 4Ever: I went on a date with the kid from Modern Family, and he made me cum twice.
Princess Gollum: There’s so many, I’ve been here so long. When I was like eight months old, the big earthquake happened and I didn’t even cry. Then when I was four years old, we had a crazy amount of monarch butterflies come through, just swarms going through the city. Imagine the crustiest area of K-town with millions of butterflies going where they needed to. It was so romantic.
Where do you go in LA to escape?
Queen of Melrose: I go to my backyard. I walk my huskies. I live in a beautiful area, I wake up and there’s people riding horses. I had to do that for my brain when I got sober. I used to live on Melrose, and I have my shops on Melrose and I felt like I was never getting away from Melrose. After the pandemic, it started getting on the queen’s nerves. It’s more tranquil.
The Cobrasnake: The top of many mountains. I love hiking. You can catch me at Runyon or on top of the Hollywood sign. It’s something that grounds me
Mayah Hatcher: Honestly, I love my home, I love my apartment. I love my neighbors, we cook for each other, we check on each other. When I want to get away from LA, I probably go to New York.
Zana Bayne: I want to say the Cabazon outlets.
Mel 4Ever: I go to, like Malibu. I don’t know, I go to the beach and freeze my tits off. Also, my patio. I dance and perform under the moon, that’s where I go to hide.
Princess Gollum: The beach, definitely. It’s the only place you can find without a human being in sight.
PAPER People: NYC Icons, Freaks and Legends
Photography and direction: Julian Buchan
Styling: Marta Del Rio
Hair: Gregg Lennon Jr, using Unite Hair and T3 for The Only Agency
Makeup: Nick Lennon, using Pat McGrath Labs for The Only Agency
Nails: Michelle Tran
Set design: Stefania Lucchesi
Styling (Lisa Rinna): Danyul Brown
Editor-in-chief: Justin Moran
Managing editor: Matt Wille
Production: Sammy Case
Publisher: Brian Calle
Interviews: Reanna Cruz
Cover type: Jewel Baek
Studio: Moonlight Studio + Rentals
Lighting direction: Dannel Escallon
Digitech and grip: Lindsey Kusterman
Styling assistants: Grace Taylor, Niki Ravari, Gaia Khatchadourian, Arturo Delgadillo
Hair assistant: Stefanie Hernandez, Gina Garcia, Kyle Heinen
Makeup assistants: Luna Vela, Nikole Vega, Chloe Goddard
Nail assistant: Cameron Fukuwa, Alyssa Cardiel, Alexander Tran
Set design assistant: Josefina Valadez
Production assistants: Jesse Zapatero, Lena Elgab, Gregory Shark
Gaffer: Albert Gonzalez
Grip: Kevin Aguilar
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