Monkey Business (yacht)

Monkey Business is a palatial yacht involved in the demise of Colorado, USA senator Gary Hart's campaign for President of the United States in 1987. After Hart challenged the press to provide evidence of his infidelities, reporters for the Miami Herald, in a controversial move, staked out Hart's townhouse around the clock, and finally spotted the Senator with Miami model Donna Rice. The ensuing report sent the media into frenzy, and within days photos of Hart and Rice on the opulent yacht were flooding international media, and consequently his shot at the presidency had sunk.

Monkey Business became an internationally-known household name, largely because Hart was depicted wearing a now-infamous "Monkey Business" t-shirt. The yacht, known for its impeccably designed interior, was frequently docked in South Florida at the Turnberry Isle Resort Marina. Monkey Business was an 83-foot Broward motor yacht custom built and owned by the developers of the luxury resort. Famous guests included Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Julio Iglesias and others. The owner-of-record, Eddie Lewis, was in the process of selling it at the time and later replaced it with a larger boat of the same name.

Sources

• "Gary Hart and Donna Rice – 1987". Washington Post. 1998-07-21. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/hart2.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-22.