Media was banned from Oprah Winfrey’s Barack Obama fundraising gala, but you can bet the crowd in Santa Barbara on Saturday was far more classy than the red carpet walkers in Vegas last night. Security at Oprah’s sprawling estate was tight, but wallets were not. Obama’s campaign is now $3 million richer. Such is Oprah’s power.
The overwhelmingly African American crowd included distinguished senior figures, including basketball superstar Bill Russell and Academy Award-winning actor Sydney Poitier, and younger stars, including Holly Robinson Peete and cutting-edge comedian Chris Rock. Motown’s Stevie Wonder provided the entertainment, singing his hits from the ’70s and ’80s.
Inside the gates of Winfrey’s palatial seaside getaway, what some feared would be a starched, formal affair took on the air of a relaxed family reunion or, as one guest put it, “a free concert.” Winfrey’s staff had sent out memos to ticket buyers urging them to wear “garden” attire and warning women not to wear heels that would sink into the meadow.
Cindy Crawford and husband Randy Gerber, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Hill Harper, Tom Joyner, Tyler Perry, Ellen Pompeo, Cicely Tyson, Forest Whitaker, and, of course, Stedman Graham were also in attendance. True, the polls aren’t swinging in his favor, but he gets the best parties by far.
[LAT]
That party look like it cost over $3M to throw. Just sayin’
3 million? Oprah needs to get her very own Norman Hsu type donor to quadruple that amount for Barack. Not saying I condone illegal activities but….
If he had more experience, he could do a Romney or a Giuliani. If you’re not in office and before you announce that you’re running, people can give you whatever they want to give you.