The Charmed Life of Bruce Bozzi

The more Mr. Bozzi thought about it, the more he realized that much of his identity came from others. He was “the son of” at the Palm. In 2016, Mr. Bozzi married Bryan Lourd, the all-powerful Hollywood agent, and became “the husband of.” In celebrity tabloids, Mr. Bozzi has long been identified as “the best friend of” Andy Cohen, the boisterous media personality; they have been BFFs for nearly 30 years. (Yes, Mr. Diller has hosted them on his yacht.)

“These relationships are extremely important to Bruce,” said Sarah Jessica Parker, who has been close to Mr. Bozzi since the 1990s. “But so much of his Palm life was about others — everybody else, everybody else — that I think he wants to be his own person and be seen as his own man.”

‘James Bond in a Gay Bar’

Mr. Bozzi toyed with opening a restaurant of his own, maybe a boîte with the speakeasy vibe of the original Palm. He looked at real estate in New York’s theater district but decided against it. “I still have too many wounds from the other,” he said.

Mr. Bozzi and Mr. Lourd, who live in Beverly Hills, also have a 14-year-old daughter. “I don’t want to be an absentee father,” Mr. Bozzi said quietly. “I almost never saw my dad as a kid.”

Instead, he has set out to become a liquor magnate and star podcaster.

Mujen Spirits, founded by Mr. Bozzi and a friend, Sondra Baker, began rolling out in November. It’s a line of Japanese shochu, a colorless and odorless spirit distilled from rice. Ms. Baker’s husband, Kenneth Orkin, a start-up investor and entrepreneur, is also a Mujen partner. The moneymaking opportunities are enticing: Casamigos, the tequila brand fronted by George Clooney, sold in 2017 for roughly $1 billion, and Aviation American Gin, co-founded by Ryan Reynolds, traded in 2020 for $610 million.

Mujen received a burst of publicity on Dec. 31, when Mr. Cohen and Anderson Cooper drank it while hosting CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live.”