Big Stars at the New Gala

The first ever Airbnb.org Gala hosted by Airbnb took place last night in LA and has been a surprise to a lot of people, including me, because of how well attended it was. Jimmy Kimmel hosted, Charli XCX performed, Oscar winners Charlize Theron, Zoë Saldaña, and Matthew McConaughey were there. Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo showed up. Also Serena Williams, Kelly Rowland, Greta Lee, Demi Lovato, even Joaquin Phoenix (!) and so many more… like this is a major pull. A better pull than even the People’s Choice Awards. And not everyone was paid to be there.

Some of this, yes, for some of them, was sponcon. But Airbnb.org is the charitable organisation set up by Airbnb with a specific focus that specifically speaks to this demographic because the non-profit works with local communities to provide emergency housing for people displaced by natural disaster or other emergencies. During the LA wildfire crisis last January, when so many people including celebrities (like Joshua Jackson who was at the gala last night) lost their homes, “Airbnb.org provided nearly 24,000 people with almost 78,000 nights in real homes instead of shelters”. With the launch of the inaugural gala, Airbnb announced that 10 cents from every stay will be donated to the non-profit and aims to raise $500 million over the next five years, which would support one million nights of free housing a year. The whole point, as always, of having all those stars in the room was for people to be like… what is this event and why? In terms public relations goals, they met their target.

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What else happened today…

François Arnaud on what he’s learned from the massive popularity of Heated Rivalry and how he protects his peace. (Pajiba)

Sunrise on the Reaping premiered in London last night and the fashion looked like it was straight out of the Capitol. Everybody understood the spectacle here. Including Glenn Close. (Go Fug Yourself)

Jimmy Fallon and Jamie Lee Curtis parodied Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes in You Can See Everything and… like… Jimmy is doing a really good job here. Plus that wig should receive some kind of nomination. (Mashable)

Ethan Hawke on the cultural significance of Winona Ryder in the 90s: she was the Taylor Swift of the time – his words not mine. But I don’t disagree. People who were around back then understand this, deeply. Winona had a chokehold on us. Also… LOL forever at what he says about Ben Stiller. (Celebitchy)

Yesterday in her Celebrity Social Media column, Maria stirred the pot with a question about restaurant etiquette and splitting the bill. Let’s keep that going with another triggering restaurant issue: substitutions. There’s a very well-known restaurant in Toronto that’s been around for a long and has expanded to several locations, including international, that is equally famous for its strict “no substitutions” rule. Substitutions are apparently getting out of control and for a while, the industry was accommodating in part because they were worried about getting flamed on social media by food influencers. But some establishments are now starting to push back. We’re not talking about dietary restrictions here, we’re talking about people going into a place and trying to “customise” everything – and the impact that has on a business. (Eater)