$6 Million Raised As Grey Goose Helps Guests Celebrate Oscars Night At the 21st Annual Elton John Academy Awards Screening Party
Grey Goose celebrated Oscars night at the 21st annual Elton John Academy Awards Screening Party.
Stars of music, movies and fashion gathered at the venue in West Hollywood Park to learn who would be the big winners of the night and to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a long-term partner of Grey Goose vodka.
This year, Chef Gordon Ramsay, British celebrity chef, television personality, restaurateur, and holder of 14 Michelin stars, prepared an exquisite 5-course meal for guests that included chilled dungeness crab, braised beef short rib and sticky toffee pudding.
The dinner was followed by a lively auction. Auction items included an iconic photograph of Faye Dunaway the morning after she won her Best Actress Oscar for “Network” by famed photographer Terry O’Neill that sold for $120,000; two sets of tickets to join Sir Elton John and David Furnish at the legendary Vanity Fair party that sold for $150,000 each; five days at Steven Tyler’s Hawaiian retreat that sold for $250,000. Sir Elton John also auctioned off four private performances by himself that went for $250,000 each, totaling $1 million.
Following the auction, soulful Scottish songstress Emeli Sandé, who performed at the Grey Goose Winter Ball held in London in November, took the stage to perform several songs including hit song “Next to Me,” much to the crowd’s delight.
The Grey Goose Awards Season cocktails were served to guests as they toasted the success of each of the night’s Oscar winners. And throughout the 5-course dinner created by chef Gordon Ramsay, the Grey Goose Le Fizz glasses were topped up from specially created Grey Goose Le Fizz magnums.
As well as Sir Elton John himself, this year’s attendees included: Bono, Sharon Stone, Jim Carrey, Britney Spears, Octavia Spencer, Steve Tyler, Randy Jackson, Dave Grohl, Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell, Quincy Jones and Petra Nemcova.
In his remarks for the evening, EJAF Founder Sir Elton John celebrated the Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague, praising the extraordinary work of the early AIDS activists portrayed in the film and calling for a renewed emphasis on AIDS advocacy.
“How to Survive a Plague tells the story of AIDS activism in the earliest and most terrifying years of the AIDS epidemic. But you know what? Today, that activism is needed now more than ever if we are to achieve the promise of an AIDS-free generation,” said Sir Elton. “Our Foundation is clear on what is needed, we’re vocal in standing for what we believe, and we invest in the work that needs to be done. And I promise you that we’ll keep on fighting until the politics and bureaucracies yield to reason and justice. I don’t care how long it takes, we’re going to fight, and we’re going to win.”
A total of $6 million was raised – a record amount for the annual Oscars event.
Source: DNA & Business Wire
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