The Friday night affair was a low-key dinner-flattened chicken and Caesar salad-with high octane diners. Another group, Democracy for South Africa, is political and contributions to that are not tax deductible. In fact, it goes to the Mandela Freedom Fund for education, business and communications projects. “We’d like all the money to go to the ANC,” one said.
Organizers declined to reveal the cost of preparations, but sponsors were pushing for low overhead decor in the high-ceilinged room.
Last week, it took New York 24 hours and two celebrity fests to drum up $1 million for Mandela Los Angeles bested that with advance ticket sales for one event, adding up five-figure tax-deductible checks signed by everyone from Arco to Zomba Entertainment. He said it was very nice to meet me and he said he loved me, too.” After Mandela continued on his way, a beaming Riley said that “I told him I loved him. Riley, a handicapped UCLA law student in a wheelchair. People in the crowd-among them, Jane Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, Muhammad Ali and dozens of other celebrities-sat back and tapped their feet to the strains of American gospel hymns and the music of South Africa’s ghettos for more than an hour before Mandela spoke.ĭespite the presence of hundreds of the famous, the South African leader paused briefly to chat with one man without much of a portfolio. Jesse Jackson and entertainers Jones and Lionel Richie. Mandela strode into the armory of the Museum of Science and Industry at 9 a.m., proceeding down a red carpet with an entourage that included his wife, Winnie, the Rev. “I don’t know how many-even in this crowd-would go to prison for 27 years for what they believe in.” “He’s put his life and his soul on the line for what he believes in,” Jones said as he arrived several hours before Mandela’s appearance. Music producer and composer Quincy Jones, who contributed $100,000 to the cause, described the long years that Mandela spent in South African jails as a harsh payment that most of those in attendance could never fully understand. And most of it came from the entertainment industry. The “take” for the event was more than $1.2 million, organizers said. Let us use our creative talents, potential and influence to make our world a better place to live in.”Īnd gently chiding the film industry for its early portrayals of black Africans as savages, Mandela said he was encouraged by more recent cinematic attempts to humanize the image and publicize the South African struggle. With you on our side, we are certain of victory. He urged them to fight against apartheid, saying: “In this fight we would like all of you to be on our side. In an affectionate address that touched repeatedly on the films he saw as a youth-and later as a political prisoner-Mandela told his audience that “you were our window on life outside.” “I feel humbled in this room,” he told the crowd of celebrities, many of whom had waited as long as four hours to hear him speak, “and honored by your presence.” Nelson Mandela, who spoke earlier in the day of his youthful dreams of Hollywood, met with nearly 1,000 of the entertainment capital’s legends Friday night in a star-studded dinner and reception that swelled the coffers of his South African causes.
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