The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s annual fundraising event known as “An Evening With Women” was a rousing success, raising more than $600,000 at its May 10 gala held at the Beverly Hilton hotel.
The Saturday night event, hosted for a fifth year by songwriter-producer Linda Perry, featured performances by Evan Rachel Wood, Rumer Willis, Milla Jovovich and Perry’s former band 4 Non Blondes, whose members haven’t played together in over 20 years, and was mostly celebratory save for an impassioned plea by Center CEO Lorri L. Jean.
STORY: Beverly Hills Hotel Exec Says Hotel Is Being ‘Unfairly Picked On’
Addressing the assembled crowd, Jean spoke of the Sultan of Brunei, who is pushing to institute Sharia law in his country, which calls for the stoning to death of gays and adulterers and the public humiliation of women who’ve had abortions, and the months-long boycott of Dorchester Group-owned properties the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, describing the monarch as “a monster.”
Jean further encouraged patrons to take their business to other properties, citing The Hollywood Reporter‘s recent report on the hotel’s Polo Lounge resembling “a ghost town.” Added Jean: “All of civilized society should reject this man.”
It was confirmed earlier on Saturday that Mark Fabiani, formerly a special counsel to President Bill Clinton, was hired as a consultant for the Beverly Hills Hotel. Fabiani has advised the San Diego Chargers since 2002 and consulted for Lance Armstrong in 2010 during his doping scandal.
