Oscar winner Viola Davis lead the A list of celebs this weekend who showed up for GBK’s annual gift suite. Viola and husband Julius Tennon were among those who helped raise $60,000 for a variety of charities and walked away with some cool products. They also got chauffeured around in an all electric $300,000 SUV. It was fire engine red, to boot.
Some of the other stars who turned up were director Ruben Ostlund, actress Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Stephen Root, Kevin Pollack, Adina Porter, Shea Whigham, Stephen Root, Anna Sophia Robb, and Harry Shum, Jr. And those are just the ones who agreed to let their names be included. A lot of other Oscar nominees showed up entre nous, as they say.
Gavin Keilly has really turned this into an event of events. This weekend he took over the entire lobby and all of the public spaces at the chic Kimpton La Peer Hotel (not far from Craig’s restaurant — smart) for his most glamorous grouping of all. Products ranged from jaw dropping jewelry from Stephen Silver in New York, to mouth watering El Cristiano Tequila (which I highly recommend– I joked with George Clooney about all the different Tequilas later that night).
I did score a pair of BADAZZ GLAZZ sunglasses By Joe Pesci for a friend who now loves them so much he won’t give them back! The California Caviar Company gave samples on crackers, which had to be washed down with delicious wine from Lorenzi Estate Vineyards & Winery. At that point I was so happily buzzed, I swear someone promised to ship me a POWER XL air fryer. (I see them on TV and have no idea what they are used for!)
Some other products included custom Higher Calling Bracelets, a Netvue bird feeder, handcrafted gifts by The Artisan Group. There were also incredible sandwiches from Ike’s (this is a Los Angeles gem with several shops around town). There was also a $2,000 Kahuna massage chair that I almost passed out in from all the pampering.
For the nominees, there were also World-class international vacations by Lush Africa Safaris, Rosewood Baha Mar and Sailrock Resort stole the show.
Philanthropy is important to GBK Brand Bar. At each event they partner with a variety of charities to help raise awareness, create celebrity partnerships, and give back to the community. This year was no exception with the inclusion of Childhelp, Educating Young Minds, and Rastegar Family Foundation on-site. GBK was also able to raise over $60,000 for these causes
