Photo: AP
ANTIBES
Kendall Jenner, Antonio Banderas and other stars attending the nearby Cannes Film Festival turned out Thursday for the 26th amfAR Gala to raise money for AIDS research. Mariah Carey gave a special performance for the dinner guests along with Tom Jones and Dua Lipa during Thursday’s event at the famed Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Charli XCX provided the live entertainment at the after-party.
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The event is a fixture during the Cannes Film Festival with its sit-down black tie dinner, star-filled live auction and a designer fashion show curated by Carine Roitfeld. The looks were then auctioned off for one million euros ($1.12 million).
Along with Jenner and Banderas, Pamela Anderson, Patricia Arquette, Rebel Wilson and Adrien Brody were among the stars at the gala. Winnie Harlow, Adriana Lima and Natasha Poly lent some extra glamour to the red carpet. The gala also attracts Europe’s elite, some of whom bid on opulent items for sale.
Auction lots included a seven-night stay on a private island in the Indian Ocean for eight guests, which went for 100,000 euros ($111,826) , a Myanmar adventure with renowned Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson that was snapped up for 75,000 euros ($83,870).
Various pieces of modern art were also sold off, including an Andy Warhol screen print of Mick Jagger which raised 325,000 euros ($363,436) and a Takashi Murakami sculpture for 1,800,000 euros ($2 million).
Arquette said before the gala that she was attending to support the cause, and drive up prices a bit. “I’m just here to have fun,” Arquette said on the red carpet. “And to make people drink so they, you know, spend money on the auction. ‘Drink more.’ ‘Bid higher.’”
Jones said he was glad to perform because he knew the money raised at the event would go far. “It’s a very good feeling because you know that it’s a great cause that you’re making money for going to the right place ... to try and get a cure for AIDS. The thing we need is money. And what better way to do it than something like this?”
AmfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations supporting research, prevention and education for AIDS, and has invested nearly $550 million in its programs worldwide.
