Arts & Culture LA Charities

Access Hollywood Presents “Stuff You Must” Golden Globes Gifting Suite

Cash for your car

LATP publisher Jane Emery, Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli

The leader in entertainment news, Access Hollywood, joined forces for the second time with On 3 Productions, to raise money for the Best Buddies and Lollipop Theatre Network. On 3 Productions has joined the ranks of top tier gift suites who incorporate a charitable factor, all while celebrating what makes this town tick – celebrities.

CVS Beauty Bar

For each celebrity who stopped by, CVS/ pharmacy contributed a set amount to Best Buddies, an organization geared towards the improved lives of the intellectually disabled, and the Lollipop Theatre Network, an organization that gets movies currently in theatres to hospitalized children throughout the U.S. with life-threatening conditions. By just stopping by the Lounge, celebrities will be supporting these important causes. Last year, the Lounge helped to raise $100,000 and this year it hopes to do the same. In addition to the Lollipop Theatre Network and Best Buddies, proceeds will also go The Actors Fund, which works to provide assistance to the entertainment industry, including everyone from writers and performers to crafts professionals and stagehands.

Camille Guaty

The Stuff You Must…” Gift Lounge was impressive, not only for the causes it supported, but also for the gifting itself. The venue, the Beverly Ballroom of the Sofitel LA, was tastefully set up in a two-way division between “Stuff You Must… Experience” and “Stuff You Must… Have.”

Celebrities enjoyed spa treatments at the CVS/pharmacy Reinventing Beauty Bar, including services from celebrity makeup artist, Heather Currie, hair-stylists-to-the-stars, Cristophe & Ellen Lavar, facialist-to-the-stars, Stacy Cox, and two of Hollywood’s top manicurists from the Cloutier Agency, Debbie Leavitt and Tom Bachik.

Rumer Willis, Miss Golden Globes 2008For “Stuff You Must…Have,” celebrities received a plethora of exclusive and unique gifts from such companies as Nine West, Spanx, SOLSTICE sunglass Boutique, Unitee, TrueJeans.com, AMC Theatres, Netflix, Palm, and many more. 

Many of these companies used this opportunity to launch new lines and products. CVS/pharmacy, on top of contributing significantly to the charitable causes, also used “Stuff You Must…” to introduce their new direction, as far as products they are/will be carrying and how they are working to better meet the needs of their primary customers.

Nine West presented their spring collection that will be out in stores in March and April. From the Hollywood Glamour sub-collection, Nine West will introduce several gold models, perfect for any outfit missing some bling. Specific to the Lounge, the Olavera gold snake was especially popular among celebs. “Dynasty” star Joan Collins picked up a pair with the matching Bow clutch, as did both Lisa Rinna and Nancy O’Dell from “Access Hollywood.” Even “High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu picked up two pairs of shoes and two bags from this limited edition. There were however, some disputes on the most fabulous pair that Nine West had to offer. Maria Menounos and her stylist got into an argument about which pair would suit her best, but finally they agreed on the Nesseda Platform Sandal in Gold & Bronze and left satisfied.

 Splitfish and Nine West

Bowers and Wilkins have created a distinct speaker line specifically for ipods and unlike many other products geared towards the new music/video necessity, B&W is sold in 84 Apple stores. B&W will remain Apple excusive until January 2009. Celebs loved the new speakers and were excited to hear their favorite songs played at higher qualities. “Big Shots” star Ryan Devlin said “Bobby Brown has neved sounded so good” and Jack MacBrayer of “30 Rock” said he couldn’t wait to listen to his favorite Bruce Springsteen song “the way Bruce meant for it to sound!” “Nip/Tuck” actress Roma Maffia was psyched to get home and use her new B&W speakers to blast her favorite song “Golden” by Jill Scott. Lennie James and Jason Issaacs told B&W reps that they planned to battle it out between their new Zepplins between sets on their new show “Jericho.” It even caused a back-up of stars unwilling to move to the next gifting station, mesmerized by the high quality of the present B&W Zeppelin. “Chuck” star Josh Gomez ignored his talent escort’s questions on whether he would like to move on, replying “I want to stay here with my speaker!” He was gifted on the spot, from B&W’s  secret collection as the bulk of the celebs would have their speakers delivered due to their size.

Spanx

Already a popular asset in the Hollywood world, celebs stopped at the Spanx station to share personal stories and how they use Spanx in their lives. Mark Indelicato from “Ugly Betty” commented that Spanx is an “Ugly Betty” wardrobe necessity. He then helped his mom choose some styles- he styles her for all Red Carpet events. Perry Reeves from “Entourage” said also that she’s used the Spanx Slim Cognito  which she said, at one point on set, “had the best butt in the world, you could rest a glass on it!” Even “Dancing with the Stars” Lisa Rinna confided that all the girls on the show wear Spanx “to keep everything in place.” However, for some stars the Spanx station was a shock and a relief. Kelli Williams from “Men in Trees” cried Hallelujah when she learned about their style “Bra-lelujah,” which is designed specifically to hide back fat. And Erik King, star of “Dexter” called his mom from the Lounge to get her size.

Pussycat Dolls Carmit BacharThe Palm Centro is the new everything phone and is currently launching the new pink Centro, and at the Lounge, collaborated with Etchstar allowing celebs to personalize their Centros. Our own publisher and chief editor at LA’s The Place, Jane Emery, uses the Palm Centro and even got some technical advice from their reps. Celebrities were gifted their own new Palm Centro along with the option to personalize it. Dominique Swain picked a red Palm Centro, getting her bowling nicknamed etched onto it, “The Flying Dove.” “Access Hollywood’s” host Billy Bush got his wife’s name etched onto his phone, and Cordin Bleu got “Brooklyn Girl” etched onto his new Centro for his mom.

Skagen Designs Watches was a save-all at the Lounge for several celebrities, already in the market for a special type of time-keeper.  Actress Dominique Swain picked up a Skagen watch for her dad who, she explained, lost all his belongings in the Malibu fires. Jason Issaas from “Jericho” found a much needed dual time/ stainless steel watch so he can see the time in L.A. and London at the same time. He said he plans to wear it to the BAFTA tea party. Cordin Bleu also got a special gift from Skagen, being one of the first to receive their new Swill movement stainless steel and Swarovski crystal watch. “Entourage’s” Perry Reeves and Rex Lee also picked out matching watches.

Netflix

The NetFlix station caught everyone’s eye with a classic arcade style claw machine that had numerous celebs including Melissa McCarthy, Sara Gilbert, Perry Reeves, Bruno Tonioli and Erik King, camped out playing for anything from stuffed Bart Simpson dolls to portable DVD players, in Bruno’s case. Erik King also won the ultimate prize, a life time membership to NetFlix.
The days of nutritional pills and detox remedies is over. Borba Skin  Balance Water, the new drinkable skin balance, has zero calories, carbs, and sugar, getting its color only from the fruit, and on top of  all that, it tastes great too. The Pomegranate clarifying flavor was my favorite, as it was for “Ugly Betty’s” Mark Indelicato, as he explained that he has had very oil skin throughout his adolescence. 
The Pomegranate was also a favorite for Nestor Campbell of “Cane,” but singer Josh Grobin favored a different flavor, the Lychee, and finished an entire bottle bPenn Badgley “Gossip Girl” with Tropicana Pure Valencia Juiceefore leaving the station.

PURECool is a delicious new beverage high in taste but still calorie and additives free. It is perfect for drinking by itself, as well as for making light and yummy cocktails. The Mojito flavor is a favorite. Singer Taylor Dayne especially liked the Mojo Cool flavor, downing one and immediately requesting a second. Enthusiasm about the new drink was so impressive, even “The Biggest Loser’s” Alison Sweeney said that it should be on the show.

Norman Covan, a Parisian jewelry designer, first began designing at age 17 and is now a favorite of some of Hollywood’s most elite. Katherine McPhee was ecstatic when she saw Covan’s line and at the end, after trying rings from his diamond rose-cut collection, chose multiple rings – one ring is valued at $50K. She also mentioned her interest in potentially borrowing a couple pieces for a wedding she’ll be attending in the coming month, and left with the rings, as well as a pendant from Covan’s limited-edition “Majestic Stars” collection.

About the author

Analee Pepper

I was born on the pristine coastline of Northern California into an artistic family, my mother an artist, my father a blues musician. I have pursued numerous creative paths including musical, visual art, dance and writing. It is in dance and writing that I find solitude and contentedness. I attended a magnet art high school in Santa Rosa, CA and now attend UCLA where I focus in International Development studies, Women's studies, and French language and Culture. Today my main passions still include writing and dance and now include travel on the list. I have lived in Lyon, France and Dakar, Senegal during the past two years and hope to continue working abroad in my future. Regarding my writing, professionally I prefer to focus on arts, culture and various aspects of today's popular entertainment, and personally I tend to focus my efforts on short fictional pieces, personally therapeutic anecdotes and sporadically on prose. I do not pretend to know what the future has in store for me, but I expect to stumble upon it eventually.