Jennifer Lopez was in distress.
“Help!” she exclaimed when she arrived at Macy’s Passport event and saw the small army of reporters and photographers on the red carpet waiting to get a couple precious seconds with her–a press line made all the more daunting by the fact that at that moment she was the sole celebrity in sight. “Have you all been waiting for me? Am I the only person on the red carpet? That’s a first for me. And where is Sharon Stone? She needs to come right now!”
Of course, a celeb as media savvy as Jennifer –who was showing off the her latest clothing designs that night–didn’t need any help from Ms. Stone, the host of the annual fashionable fundraiser for AIDS research, or anyone else for that matter. Jennifer provided a huge amount of celebrity wattage, arriving on the arm of her husband Marc Anthony looking drop-dead gorgeous in a long-trained, high-waisted black Michael Kors gown and her hair piled in a high bun (she was also accompanied by the designer of her clothing line, Andy Hilfiger). Marc was sweetly protective escorting Jennifer in then slipped away as she shared her thoughts on the event with me.
“I love Macy’s Passport event because it supports a great charity,” Jennifer explained. “They have raised so much money over the years for AIDS research. I’m very glad to be part of it. I love to do stuff like this.” As one of the most fashion-minded stars in Hollywood, I had to know what she though her style secret is. “It’s about you making it your own,” she told me. “Fashion for me is to express who you are. If you look down this line everybody just chooses who they are. It is really an expression of self.”
The high-glam presence of J-Lo and Sharon Stone had us wondering: which of the ladies was the bigger diva? “Oh, I think she would have to be–in a very lovely way,” replied J-Lo with a knowing, diplomatic smile. “Because she is so lovely, she is a powerful actress and she stands for what she believes in and she helps people. That is a beautiful way to use your power.”
Sold!
And, indeed, Sharon turned in a powerhouse diva-sized performance, hosting the show in a sexy blue-ish gray, backless Elsie Katz Couture dress and brand new red Christian Dior heels. Taking the stage Sharon spoke of Elizabeth Taylor, the longtime champion of AIDS research fundraising who could not be there due to an illness: “We owe a great deal to her, who started this whole thing when AIDS was just a small disease with only 1,400 infected people. Now we have 40 million infected people on this planet. Liz Taylor never looked the other way. She is fabulous and I walk in her footsteps, gladly picking up the torch for AIDS research…As long as I have feet to walk in high heels I will be pounding this floor until it is over.”
For about an hour, Sharon–an excellent auctioneer and terrifically funny off the cuff–auctioned off some of the items, beginning with a private tennis lesson with Pete Sampras: “I would buy it because he is so cute…It’s a tennis clinic. It’ll cure what ails you!” When Sampras came on stage (“I’m feeling better already!” said Sharon) she convinced him to auction off 2 lunches and an hour of tennis lessons at his home, including a tour. Two people paid $17,500 each. She then auctioned off a trip to the Bahamas with a four-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and a gift certificate at the Armani store. “If you can’t get laid with this one, you are just toooo stupid. You should stay at home and watch The Golden Girls.” Hollywood super-agent Kevin Huvane was the lucky one who got the trip for $18,000.
Wilmer Valderrama was the first of about ten people who bid $2000 to send children with AIDS to Disneyland for $2,000 each–each bid sent 50 children. When Wilmer took to the stage with the rest of the winners, Sharon asked him his name and he told her, but she did not appear to know who he was, which left the audience tittering. Also offered as a last minute addition: a Caesars Palace Las Vegas package that included front row seats to see Elton John and a meeting with the singer afterward, provided by Sir Elton himself and his pal Eric McCormack.
The clasp on the back of Sharon’s dress came undone twice, and the second time she seductively auctioned off the opportunity to hook her back up for $500. As the winning bidder struggled to re-hook it, Sharon told the audience he whispered to her “I’m gay so I’m not very good at this.”
J-Lo’s Show
Marc Anthony took a front-row seat at the end of the runway, beer bottle in hand, just before her show, titled “J-Lo Story,” which opened with a high-energy hip-hop dance piece starring competing gangs in the vein of, you guessed it, West Side Story. The clothes were her trademark “street chic” style as interpreted with high end fabrics, all giant floppy hats and micro-short skirts. Marc cheered enthusiastically when J-Lo took the stage herself for the finale, descending dramatically from a steel staircase and strolling halfway down the runway to massive cheering and applause.
The next show featured small children in a line of skateboarder-ish clothes from Hot Wheels zipping down the runway in tiny go-carts, and Marc and Jennifer had front row seats, going absolutely CRAZY for the kids, pointing and shrieking as some adorable pint-sized dancers took the stage with some really amazing choreography. Grooving to the music in her chair, Jennifer seemed absolutely enthralled with the kids, leaping to her feet to give a standing ovation. Then the Anthonys left the show, with security guards and handlers struggling with J-Lo’s train as they hustled her out of there.
The evening raised more than $1.4 million for AIDS research, with a portion of the funds raised to be donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina. And if that’s what a double dose of divas can do, everyone should take a page out of Sharon and Jennifer’s playbook.
