CELEBRITIES WHIP OUT THEIR WALLETS
FOR OVARIAN CANCER
Ah, the Hamptons…the Long Island beach towns from Westhampton to Beach Hampton cram with the glitteroti every summer weekend. Among those in posh cars pushing their way east from Manhattan one August weekend were Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos, Lorraine Bracco, Rudy Guiliani and his wife Judith, Barbara Walters and Kerry Washington. All endured insufferable traffic along the Long Island Expressway in great anticipation of the annual Super Saturday sale, which benefits the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (ocrf.org).
In case you are not familiar with it (be sure to catch some bargains on QVC if you won’t be headed to the rich and famous playground next summer), it’s an all-out shopping extravaganza with generous designers from Alex Woo to Valentino, offering up merchandise at steep discounts to raise money for this cancer cause. So many elbows were out in years past, Marc Jacobs added a bouncer to his table last year and if you don’t get to Valentino early on in the day, you will miss every shoe, dress and belt available. This year, the bonanza raised $3.4 million and host Kelly Ripa and Mark, along with Bracco and Guiliani were kind enough to spare some time for CelebrityEverything.com on the red carpet before dashing into shopping utopia.
Q: Mark, nice to see you on the red carpet this year! Are you participating in the shopping experience this year?
Mark: I’m supporting the shopping.
Kelly: He holds the credit card!
Q: Why is this event important to you?
Mark: We all know someone who has been affected by this. We’d love not to have this event if they find a cure for this and we can go shopping for another reason, but cancer in general touches all of us.
Q: Kelly, what’s the best deal you got here last year?
K: Last year I got some great Eres bathing suits – sexy one-piece bathing suits. I have an outtie belly button so I’m sensitive and like to wear a one-piece and I got a bunch of J Brand jeans and Hudson jeans for $10 a pair. I wait til the bitter end [of the day, when prices are further slashed]. Mama doesn’t play around! And what I do is if I find a bigger size, I have it altered. Sometimes all it needs is a little $2 alteration and that’s it.
Q: What are you looking for this year?
K: My father in law would like some Lacoste shirts and my son want me to get him some video games.
Q: What do you like best about the Hamptons?
K: The color of the sky during sunset in our backyard. We come here year-round, in winter, we don’t care if it’s snowing or raining – we love it here.
Q: Lorraine, you’ve a regular here, right? Why this event – what does it mean to you?
Lorraine: I’ve been coming a long time – a good 10 years. I’m good friends with presenter Donna Karen and have had friends who have suffered from cancer. This is a nice way to give back. I spend a lot of tickets every year, my kids spend a lot of money and knowing that it goes back to research is a great thing.
Q: What’s the best deal you’ve gotten here?
L: I think one year I bought about 10 Dyson vacuum cleaners, which was a great thing. I’m no rhyme or reason. I’ve gotten great Donna Karen dresses that my children have worn on red carpets for “Sopranos” openings – I’ve done really well here.
Q: What are you up to these days?
L: I wrote a book called Schooled with a couple of writers and we have it now in the script form and it will be available in Target stores. It’s about a young teacher and tutor in Manhattan. I also went to Morocco with Gourmet Magazine and PBS, which was fun, and am decorating my house.
Q: Are we going to see a “Sopranos” movie?
L: I hope so, keep praying! Write HBO and tell them you want that movie!
Q: What’s your favorite restaurant in the Hamptons?
L: My house!
Q: Rudy are you supporting cancer or looking for good bargains or both today?
Rudy: We’re here to support Ovarian Cancer Research and the event is one we come to every year and it’s a great deal of fun. And Judith enjoys all the fashions. I can’t say I’m an expert on the fashions.
Q: What do you think of President Obama’s performance so far?
R: You’re asking the wrong person I ran for the Republican nomination, so I think he’s going the wrong direction on the economy. With foreign policy I still have an open book, but on the economy I think he’s going completely in the wrong direction.
Q: You’re a cancer survivor does this event mean more to you now?
R: Even before I was concerned about cancer, but having had cancer and thank goodness survived it, you always think about it and always feel you owe something back.
Q: What do you tell those who have just been diagnosed with cancer?
R: You tell them nowadays cancer is not a death sentence. It used to be a long time ago when I was young and we heard the word cancer, we thought, ‘Oh my gosh; there’s no hope.’ But now some are completely curable and we have a lot of hope. And if it gets detected, you’re fortunate. I remember feeling sorry for myself when I first got cancer but then I realized I got lucky I was given a warning about something I could do something about.
Q: Judith, you played a pivotal role in his recovery, having a medical background, right?
J: I say get an advocate. I had a medical background and we had each other and being a nurse by training, I was familiar with those big words – oncology and immunology – they’re frightening in themselves. But you can hire someone, a health care advocate – and in some places they are free – so try to find an advocate, because it’s a terrible maze to get through yourself.
R: I remember the first two weeks it was total confusion, but it takes two to three weeks to process the information. But if you have a fast-moving cancer, you have to decide right away.
Q: What do you like about the Hamptons?
J: What’s not to like?
R: Golf, beach, weather – my golf game is great and we’re going to go play later today.
Unless he’s too shopped out, of course!
