David Zucker, director of the 1980 comedy classic Airplane!, joked that he was the perfect non-political choice to present an award to the Actors Conservatory Ensemble at TreePeople’s Harvest Moon Gala on Saturday night. The punchline was met with mixed reception.
“Women aren’t coming forward to accuse me of anything,” the director quipped to scattered laughter at TreePeople’s L.A. headquarters. “There’s a dozen young boys, but they’re all lying.”
More chuckled and some grimaced at his comments making light of the #MeToo movement, which has seen several women and some men detail experiences of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of Hollywood executives, including Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves and Kevin Spacey.
Film producer Laurie Benenson also turned #MeToo into a punchline while presenting an Evergreen Award to Jonathan and Karin Fielding. “I think we can all agree that we’re all members of the #TreeToo movement,” she joked.
The tables are set at TreePeople’s Harvest Moon Gala honoring Irmelin DiCaprio pic.twitter.com/wGHI5mupqV
— Christi Carras (@christi_anne96) October 6, 2018
The topical quips came hours after the Senate’s controversial decision to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court amid multiple allegations of sexual assault.
“Please, don’t remind me,” said Irmelin DiCaprio of Kavanaugh’s confirmation during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter. “Sad, sad, sad. And every day gets [sadder].”
Dr. Jonathan Fielding presents a slide quantifying environmental protections in danger under the Trump administration at the Harvest Moon Gala honoring Irmelin DiCaprio pic.twitter.com/gmuomsMMtm
— Christi Carras (@christi_anne96) October 7, 2018
TreePeople honored DiCaprio, mother of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, with the Evergreen Award for her work bettering the environment. The organization’s founder, Andy Lipkis, expressed his disappointment at the Senate decision as well, while presenting DiCaprio with her award.
“It’s hard right now,” Lipkis said. “We had a chance to save people, and we didn’t.”
While accepting the honor, DiCaprio detailed the origins of her family’s passion for the environment and the beginnings of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which she and her son established in 1998.
“I moved to Los Angeles and made it a point to live right at the edge of Griffith Park because the image of the forest in Germany was always in me,” DiCaprio said.
“This is where Leonardo was born — right there, within walking distance of the greatest city park in the world, and luckily, a short distance to the Hollywood movie studios. Even as a young child, Leonardo was always fascinated with nature and animals.”
Evergreen Award recipient Irmelin DiCaprio shares a slideshow of her son, @LeoDiCaprio, during her acceptance speech, including a mother-son photo from the set of #Titanic pic.twitter.com/OTDbu22GRD
— Christi Carras (@christi_anne96) October 7, 2018
More attendees included Saturday Night Live alumna Molly Shannon and Jackie Brown actor Robert Forster.
Hosted by TV personality and YouTube star Kalee Hewlett, the dinner featured multiple speeches about the impact of climate change on California’s landscape and a fundraiser auction for items including a seven-night stay at a Mexican resort and a private wine tasting at Moraga Bel Air.
