Inside the UNICEF Snowflake Ball with Muhammad Ali, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and honoree Jerry Weintraub photo: kevin winter/getty
There was a serious blizzard of stars at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball , sponsored by Baccarat, honoring Jerry Weintraub at the Beverly Wilshire this past week in LA. I am talking Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (who remained cuddled up most of the evening), George Clooney and Italian girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis, Matt Damon and wifey Luciana Barroso, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David, Bruce Willis and Emma Hemming, who all sat at the same table with Weintraub and wife Jane-who sang to her man on stage at one point during the course of the night, along with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Tony Bennett. At an adjacent table sat Cindy Crawford (who looked stunning in violet!) and hubby, Clooney BFF Rande Gerber, as well as Jeremy Piven with a date and Red Hot Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedes. Also in attendance were original cougar Joan Collins, Alyssa Milano, Bob Einstein aka “Super Dave Osborne”, and a special surprise guest-Muhammad Ali who was brought on the stage and received a standing ovation.
Matt Damon arriving at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball sponsored by Baccarat photo: jason merritt/getty
The night was full of love and admiration for Jerry who was introduced to the stage by George Clooney, and the charismatic Weintraub recounted his start in the biz while jokingly proclaiming throughout his speech “and this is why I deserve this award.” He pointed out that he attempted to take a young Elvis on the road for a concert tour. Without the $1 million necessary to fund such an undertaking, he relied on the funds of others to make his dream possible. Turns out, years later he discovered that the funding was made possible by one of his closest friends, the late actor Danny Kaye, which was a touching and warm surprise. Safe to say, Weintraub isn’t scraping pennies together after producing box office blockbusters like Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen. Way to go Jerry for not only all of the great movies you make, but also all that you do to make the world a better place for children.
