Cannes AmfAR Gala Raises $10 million
A charity gala held Thursday night as one of the final festivities at this year’s Cannes Film Festival raised over $10 million for AmfAR.
The annual “Cinema Against AIDS” dinner, which took place at the exclusive Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes just outside of Cannes, was in part a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, whose ceaseless activism lasted until her death in March.
“At the very beginning she spoke up when others wouldn’t, said things that others hadn’t, and she was very bold and brave in stating her conviction,” shoe designer and amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole said. “To a large degree we’re where we are because of her,” he added.
Among the celebrities who turned out at the gala were film festival jury president Robert De Niro, Brooke Shields, Gwen Stefani, Donatella Versace, Janet Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Sean Penn, and Kanye West.
The large scale of the event and its intake marked a considerable change from the past few years, when residual pain from the global financial crisis was felt in even the glitziest circles.
