The Baron of Botox · Imperative Entertainment

Easter Sunday | Chapter 1

January 14, 2020·32 min·2 clips

In a video filmed a year before his death, Dr. Brandt stutters through a question about which historical figure he'd want to be — and reveals he would rather start over than inhabit anyone else's inner turmoil.

The episode opens with statistics on the global medical aesthetics market — projected at $26.53 billion by 2024, with 7.4 million Botox injections in the US in 2018 alone — positioning Brandt as the central figure who helped normalize cosmetic procedures. Host Justine Harmon then describes Brandt's death in clinical detail: on Easter Sunday 2015, he arranged his affairs knowing friends were due to arrive that morning, while his assistant Maggie and friend Jasper maintained informal suicide watch. He had a dangerous cocktail of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and sleep aids in his system and had been under psychiatric care for 10 days. Harmon provides personal context, describing her years as a digital editor at Elle and the magazine's relationship with Brandt as a celebrity expert and friend. She describes his distinctive appearance — taut skin, overripe lips, bleached hair — which was rarely commented upon in the media circles he inhabited. A clip from a Chinese portrait video filmed roughly a year before his death is described in detail: Brandt fills in philosophical blanks, describing himself as 'red,' 'bittersweet,' and a 'very abstract painting.' When asked which historical figure he would want to be, he becomes visibly agitated and delivers a rambling answer about not wanting to absorb another person's invisible suffering — expressing a preference for reincarnation and building himself from scratch. The episode then turns to the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt controversy. One month before his death, the Netflix show debuted a character named Dr. Sidney Grant, played by Martin Short in prosthetics and a bleached wig. Brandt's publicist confirmed the parody hurt him deeply. Former W Beauty director Dana Wood told New York Magazine that 'Tina Fey has blood on her hands,' a statement she stood by despite backlash. Tina Fey's team declined to participate in the podcast. New York Times reporter Guy Trebay, who profiled Brandt in 2014, reflects on the central contradiction of Brandt's career: a refined aesthetic sense for others' faces paired with increasingly distorted self-perception. Trebay suggests Brandt became a cultural emblem of the unspoken anxieties people carry about aging. A memorial at Alice Tully Hall nine days after Brandt's death featured Kelly Ripa, Joy Behar, Linda Wells, and publicist Jackie Trachtenberg, but no family members. The episode ends with a revelation about Brandt's will: he designated business associate Stefan Kalou and assistant Maggie as co-executors of his estate, and Stefan was one of six people who received cash payouts. Multiple sources speculate that Brandt was in love with Stefan, who is described as straight.

As heard by us

A glossy, uneasy portrait of Frederick Brandt and the culture that normalized Botox.

The Baron of Botox places Frederick Brandt inside the glossy machinery of cosmetic culture and then asks a simpler, sharper question: what happens when a face starts to feel like public property?

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Why you'd press play

For listeners who want the Botox story stripped of its gloss.

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