Fashion for Relief | Emmy Grrrs | The Real Deal Video | Your Grrrs
Naomi Campbell Is a Fighter
We've all heard the stories of vicious catfights with assistants, hairdressers and other supermodels, but you might be surprised to hear about what Naomi Campbell (search) is fighting for these days.
How about ... Hurricane Katrina victims?
That's right, Campbell turned the fashion world upside down when she quickly put together "Fashion for Relief," a charity runway show whose proceeds went to Americares, one of the organizations working to bring relief to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
"I'm really happy that everyone came together and made it possible," said an ecstatic Campbell on Friday night, after closing Fashion Week (search) here in New York City with more than style. She did it with class.
"Everybody came because everybody's touched by this, not just me," she said. "Everybody put it together."
Everybody meant Ralph Lauren (search), who made custom T-shirts for charity auction; Beyonce Knowles, who showed up and took to the runway; Yahoo!, which ran the auction; as well as dozens of supermodels from Carmen to Angie Everhart to Tyson Beckford to Rachel Hunter.
"It was amazing to be a part of it," said Hunter, Rod Stewart's ex-wife. "I mean, I sit around saying what can I do, what can I do? And it was great to be active and do something," she said.
"It's been a hard time to celebrate, to come out with a smile," said Everhart. "But I'm an American. Naomi asked me to come out to support other Americans, and here I am."
Celebrity photographer Patrick McMullen said his view from backstage was amazing, "like the old days of modeling." He said it was nice to see old friends like models Veronica Webb, Hunter and Carmen.
"Naomi Campbell put this together in like five days," McMullen said. "She made no promises as to who would show up, but there have been surprise guests, like Beyonce," he said.
David Bowie's wife, supermodel Iman, sat in the first row, as did Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, who has pledged $1 million to Katrina victims.
Earlier in the week, Diddy told FOX News' Bill McCuddy that there was no truth to the rumor that he said he wanted his million bucks to go only to black victims of Katrina.
"I want the money to benefit victims of the hurricane no matter what color they are," he told McCuddy.
"It was a great cause and a wonderful night," said Yahoo! chief Terry Semel. "We were so happy to help."
One of the night's biggest surprises for your Grrr! guy came when Heatherette Fashion's flamboyant co-founder and designer Richie Rich confessed that he loves FOX News.
"We love you guys. FOX Rules!" he said, adding "People think fashion is superficial and all, but at the end of the day we're all human, you know?"
Well said. No Grrr! there.
Click here to watch Fashion for Relief on Mike's "The Real Deal."
Aside from comic Ellen DeGeneres' wonderful opening monologue, there wasn't much to write home about when it came to her hosting duties.
Ellen started off in good form, referring to the opening act, a joint effort by Earth, Wind and Fire and the Black Eyed Peas, as "Earth, Wind and Fiber," which was appropriate enough.
The opening song was supposed to relate to things that happened on TV since "last September," but the lyrics were so hard to make out, any humor that may or may not have been present was lost on the audience. A Billy Crystal song tribute it was not.
One really big Grrr! is the fact that so many presenters try to be funny. Having never been a presenter, I'm not sure if these cutesy little banter quips are actually written for the presenters, or if it's something the actors decide to do on their way out on stage.
Certainly the dumb line to Chris O'Donnell (the newest in the "Adult Contemporary Actor" category that Rob Lowe and Martin Sheen have perfected), about how his co-presenter had a crush on him when she was a little girl was enough to make more than just my eyeballs roll.
But even the venerable Quentin Tarantino fell on his face trying to be cute, as well as Alyson Hannigan's intro to the equally horrid "Emmy Idol" competition that Donald Trump and William Shatner, among others, participated in.
Jon Stewart's edited-for-FCC commentary was hilarious, although he sort of embarrassed himself by saying that David Letterman's poignant, dare I say brilliant tribute to Johnny Carson was what "comics of today think of him [Letterman]." Grrrr!
As far as awards shows go, this year's Emmys went off pretty much without a hitch, but it was boring, and I'm not even talking about Dan Rather's bloviating about how important his role in television is. Thank goodness for Tom Brokaw breaking up that act.
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Mike Straka is the director of operations and special projects for FOXNews.com, and covers entertainment and features on the Sunday program "FOX Magazine." He also writes the biweekly Grrr! Column and hosts "The Real Deal" video segments on FOXNews.com.
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