Photos: Inside The 28th Annual Angel Ball At Cipriani Wall Street

Giuseppina Cannizzaro, Elizabeth Segerstrom and Denise Rich. Photograph: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation

On Monday night, the Gabrielle Angels Foundation for Cancer Research hosted its 28th annual Angel Ball on Cipriani Wall Street, where songwriter and foundation co-founder Denise Rich kept a promise to her daughter, Gabrielle Rich Aouad. Daughter Gabrielle Rich Aouad died at the age of 27 after a courageous four-year battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Richie, who dazzled on the red carpet, told the Observer: “Behind you is a picture of my daughter and I miss her every day. Her last wish was to never have cancer again. We will fight until I die to make sure there are no more cancers. We are very committed to this cause.”

This year’s ball was a huge success, raising $3 million for cancer research. (Since its founding in 1996, the foundation has awarded more than $47 million to support research into cutting-edge and less toxic therapies for blood cancers.) The night’s honorees included actress, singer and philanthropist Lynda Carter, six-time Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum recording artist Dionne Warwick, and entrepreneur and philanthropist Nicola Vessels.

Armand de Brignac, Hunky Dory by Kathy Hilton, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, LALO Tequila and Rumor Rose provided the evening’s cocktails, while Lorraine Schwartz, Valmont, Four Seasons Naviva and L’AGENCE sponsored the dance. Tony Award- and Grammy Award-nominated singer Deborah Cox, who served as the evening’s host and arrived wearing a creamy sequined L’AGENCE gown, told the Observer it was “an incredible moment of celebration” and praised Richie for his long-standing commitment to his daughter. Just took it off TitanicCox said Warwick inspired her as a child with hits like “That’s What Friends Are” and “Deja Vu,” and it’s great to see Warwick’s philanthropic work being promoted.

Linda Carter. Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation

wonder woman Star Lynda Carter wore a fitted metallic gown paired with a ruffled black Schiaparelli cape jacket. She said she tried to look as glamorous as possible, but the theme of the night was serious. “It’s about celebrating the extraordinary minds of scientists.” Asked whether artificial intelligence could help find treatments, Carter told the Observer: “Of course… I think it could speed up a lot of research, but you have to be very careful to make sure those data points are reproducible.” She was also there to support her longtime friend and collaborator Rich. “She was fighting for her daughter’s life and I was fighting for my husband’s life,” Carter added, referring to her late husband Robert Altman, who died of blood cancer in 2021.

Multi-hit pop star Taylor Dayne wore a sparkly black dress, with sequins being the theme of the night. Dane told the Observer that the night “was a full circle on so many levels.” She worked with Richie as a writer and artist nearly thirty years ago and has been a part of Angel Ball almost since the beginning. Dane, a cancer survivor herself, said her diagnosis surprised her. “People were like, ‘Rip your colon out right now.'” I was like, “Take a breath.” I’m going to think about this carefully and then I’ll come back, as I would with anything in life, to figure out the best route. ” She emphasized the importance of funding cancer research and attributed the fact that she is still here today to early discovery.

Kathy Hilton, the evening’s chairwoman, flashed red and echoed Dayne’s message about early discovery. “It’s time to post a mammogram on Instagram,” she said, capturing her human moment. “Only I would say that,” she laughed. Then she calmed down and added that her mother, who died at 62, called herself “naughty” because she hadn’t seen a doctor in 10 years. “It’s such a shame,” Hilton said.

Kathy Hilton and Bianca Peters. Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation

Other notable guests for the night included Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, Alex Lundquist, Bianca Peters, Carol Alt, Charlie Walker, Cooper Helfet, Daisy Toye, David and Tara Dollinger, Eric Goldie, Erica Hammond, Erin Leach, Phil Da Silva, Gigi Paris, Harvey Spevak, Isaac Butz, Laura Geller, Melissa and Joe Gorga, Mike Masco, Nick Barlotta, Lorraine Schwartz, Ofela Sandberg, Peter Thomas Roth, Ross Pino, Sandra Lee, Simone Smith, Steve Gold and Tiki Barber.

Cipriani Wall Street shimmered with dreamy pink lights, and two angels with heart-shaped pendants were projected above the stage. At the center of each table were five white candles in glass cylinders of varying heights, with hydrangeas and pink roses arranged above. Armand de Brignac Gold champagne was flowing and as roasted mushroom linguini was served, Cox thanked attendees for their support and introduced Gabrielle’s sisters, the evening’s co-hosts Daniella Rich Kilstock and Ilona Rich Schachter, and their families.

Richard Kirstock, Daniela Richie Kirstock, Talia Kirstock, and Kayla Kirstock. Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation

“You showed us that even in the saddest of circumstances, something extraordinary can grow,” Kierstock said in a heartfelt letter to her mother. Her daughter Kayla later paid a passionate tribute to her grandmother: “You taught us that love doesn’t end when someone dies. Sometimes, that love grows deeper.”

Richie then took the stage with her family and asked the rapt audience to light a white candle “in honor of those battling cancer and those we’ve lost. And a special prayer for my friend Clive Davis who passed away this year.” While the night was more about hope than loss, it was impossible not to feel the absence of those who are no longer here.

Kelly Leach told the story of two soulmates in a strapless teal Sau Lee gown. She calls her husband Todd Day her octopus because his love language is physical touch and he wraps himself around her every night. He was first diagnosed with lymphoma, then beat it, and for seven years, as she puts it, “the storm never went away.” They started dreaming again, bought a house in the Poconos, adopted several dogs, and after six rounds of IVF, welcomed their son Nikolai. Then the cancer came back. A clinical trial eventually cleared his scans and he was cured, but the treatment took a toll on his body. “We reached shore and drowned on the beach.”

Two weeks before the anniversary of his death, Leach “fulfilled” their final dream and welcomed their daughter, Elizabeth Chloé, through in vitro fertilization. Leach said the study was not a failure. “It gives us seven years,” she told the audience. “Gabriel’s Angels are funding this research so you can give your family a little more time.”

Seth Herzog, resident comedian and sketch performer The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonleading the live auction. These included a Belmond trip to Peru, stunning Lorraine Schwartz earrings and a week spent at the Lucia Magnani Clinic in Italy. Star Jones led the paddle fundraiser, which raised more than $340,000, and donors also received heart-shaped canvases and sculptures by Fer Da Silva. There will also be a raffle for cheetah print Chanel bags for $250 each. Dinner was prime grilled beef tenderloin with tri-color baby carrots, followed by vanilla butter meringue and apple mille-feuille, plus Vescovello Toscano Rosso.

hairy. Photograph: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation

With performances by Shaggy, Taylor Dayne and Deborah Cox, the night ostensibly looked like a Broadway show. But the urgency to find treatments is ever-present. Dr. Stephen Nimmer, chairman of the foundation’s medical advisory board (and, in Rich’s words, an incredible doctor who helped her daughter) took the stage. “You all played your part,” he told the room. “So I suggest that when you think about this amazing foundation and the contributions that you guys make, you say the exact opposite of Shaggy’s song and proudly say, ‘It’s me.'”

He told the story of Emily Whitehead, who stood on the same stage as one of the first people in the world to receive CAR-T cell therapy for refractory leukemia. Fifteen years later, she remains in remission, and the therapy is now approved to treat three types of cancer. He reminded viewers that none of these developments were inevitable. This happens because scientists work late into the night, biotech and pharmaceutical companies take risks on new treatments, patients and families participate in trials, and donors like them do. Then he implored: “Please come back every year until the foundation’s goals are achieved. Then we will all live in a world where no one dies from cancer.”

At the end of the party, the guests danced to “Tell It to My Heart” as if they were in 1988, then grooved to the DJ music “Boobastic” by MOS and Kiss, and finally headed to Wall Street. Many will return next year, perhaps closer to a cure.