[ad_1]
Sharon Stone was not getting the offers she wanted.
Around midnight Friday evening in France, after a dazzling fashion show on the lawn of a mansion in Antibes, the actor-turned-master of ceremonies auctioned 32 unique dresses from designers such as Versace, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy and Balenciaga at the amfAR Cannes gala.
Joined on stage by the 32 models who had walked a makeshift runway – which was so slippery two of them had stumbled – Stone was ready to pocket a big check for the nonprofit dedicated to fighting cancer. HIV / AIDS.
But the money didn’t flow as freely as the bottles of champagne amfAR waiters poured out over a five-hour dinner for a crowd of around 400 big European players, business titans and oligarchs. .
“Do I have an offer for $ 200,000!” Said Pierre. “Let’s go.” After no hand immediately rose, Stone looked at the crowd in exasperation. “What a bunch of cheap motherfuckers,” she said.
In the end, the 32 dresses organized by Carine Roitfeld sold for $ 265,000. In the most glitzy years, the fashion show has raised over a million dollars from generous donors.
The annual charity auction, now in its 27e year marks the unofficial end of the Cannes Film Festival. It is known to have attracted big movie stars and musical artists – from Leonardo DiCaprio to Mariah Carey – and a lot of money, raising $ 235 million since its inception.
Yet the charity event recently escaped scandal. In 2018, Kenneth Cole resigned as president, after allegations he paid Harvey Weinstein, a loud and loud supporter of amfAR, at a 2015 dinner.
After canceling last year due to Covid-19, amfAR Cannes returned with less glitter and fewer people. IInstead of the Hotel du Cap, the dinner was held at Villa Eilenroc, with a table layout that limited dancing or chatting as part of social distancing efforts. The crowd was about half their normal size.
The auction was also not so fierce for the live auction which included 24 items including extravagant vacations (eight nights in Zanzibar for eight people cost $ 118,000), works of art ( a bronze astronaut sold for $ 472,000) and even the gold SUV driven by Sacha Baron Cohen in his 2012 film “The Dictator” ($ 236,000).
In keeping with the theme of the evening “The Great Gatsby”, Stone auctioned off a copy of the first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel signed by the two actors who played Gatsby in the films – Robert Redford and DiCaprio (no ‘was present) . The package featured more extravagant perks: the cufflinks men wore in their movies; and a lunch with Stone at the villa where the gala was being held.
It all started for $ 200,000.
At around 1:30 a.m., Alicia Keys performed a four-song ensemble, including “Empire State of Mind,” in what she described as her first post-COVID concert.
The presenters included Regina King, Mj Rodriguez, Rachel Brosnahan and Lucas Bravo, the French model and “Emily in Paris” idol. Spike Lee, who was billed as a “featured guest,” made such a brief appearance that most attendees never saw him.
Orlando Bloom was seated next to Stone but did not take the stage. Stone returned to the event as host after a seven-year absence.
At the end of the evening, the actor raised a toast to all the donors in the crowd, recalling how far the efforts to end HIV and AIDS have come.
“We’ve been together for so long,” Stone said. “For so many years, we didn’t know what was going to happen. And now we have a TV commercial for AIDS drugs, because of you. Thanks to you, we can stop mother-to-child transmission.
Through multiple costume changes, Stone did her best to compete for the crowd’s money. At around 2:30 a.m., she went out in a dress to sell a limited collection of Chopard-designed Gatsby and Daisy watches for $ 100,000 each.
But after only being able to get the asking price for a pair of watches, when she had an inventory of 42, she walked off the podium annoyed. – Thank you for coming, she said laconically. “Adios.”
[ad_2]
Source link