Chelsea Portraits - This Ain't no Holiday Inn: Down and Out at the Chelsea Hotel 1980-1995 - page 214

The theory around here is that Sid didn't kill Nancy, but this other guy, Rockets
Redglare, 116 did. Rockets Redglare was this guy in a punk band, and also in the
movie Tree's Lounge, and a lot of other movies. He always played a seedy char-
acter.Anyway,hewasthelastguyseenleavingtheroom.Andhewasanotorious
thief and a heroin dealer. He probably went there and sold the heroin and wanted
his money and got pissed off. He was a violent guy, and he probably killed her.
He was also a misogynist—a very scary guy.We were at The World in 1986,and
somebody said, “That's Rockets Redglare over there.” He was this big fat guy
with glasses and greasy hair. This friend of mine, Claudia, was being stalked by
him. He was saying really scary things to her. I didn't know about the Sid Vi-
cious thing at the time, but it was doubly spooky when I found out. Everybody
told me, “Whoa, stay away from that guy.” He was living here a few years ago,
just before he died.
The rumor here in the hotel was that Rockets killed Nancy. Somebody even
asked him once, and he answered sarcastically, “Yeah, I killed her.”
JULIE EAKIN
Besides Sid and Nancy, there were several movies filmed when we were there.
A film with Kim Basinger and Micky Rourke called 9 ½ Weeks was also filmed
there. I remember going up in the elevator a couple of times with Kim Basinger.
She looked pretty distraught—I don't know if that was what was going on with
her character too.
PAUL VOLMER
Warhol's movie Chelsea Girls, about girls who lived in the hotel, was the first
example of reality TV.
TIM SULLIVAN
Warhol's Chelsea Girls film, you have to look at as art, and as a time capsule,
and now with reality TV, the 15 minutes of fame thing has come absolutely true.
Television nowis90percentreality shows.Everybody'stryingtogetonthenext
reality show so they'll be famous for fifteen minutes. Warhol started it all.