Wolf Blitzer, Danny Glover, DeMar DeRozan and Atom Egoyan were among the A-listers at a charity gala Thursday in Toronto’s Distillery District.
They came for Madiba.
Acclaimed actors, musicians, Raptors players and even CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer gathered Thursday night to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela at a glitzy charity dinner in Toronto’s Distillery District.
The benefit was organized by Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri as a benefit for two charities: the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Giants of Africa, which provides basketball coaching and facilities to youth across Africa.
The night was steeped in memories of Mandela. Images of his face were projected on pillars across the Fermenting Cellar, the evening’s venue, and black-and-white video interviews from his days as South African president were broadcast on a screen.
A few in attendance knew Mandela personally. His former jailmate, Tokyo Sexwale, an anti-apartheid activist, was in the audience alongside Anant Singh, producer of the recent Oscar-nominated 2013 film Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom.
A children’s choir from Toronto’s Nelson Mandela Park Public School — which Mandela visited in 2001 — dressed in golden-yellow African robes and sang as the A-listers mingled over wine and cocktails. An assembly at the school had been held earlier in the day, with Raptors player Amir Johnson and head coach Dwane Casey meeting with the Regent Park students to talk about Madiba’s legacy as a leader.
Blitzer hosted the night alongside Ujiri, whom he called a “personal friend.” Celebrity guests included director Atom Egoyan, Lethal Weapon actor Danny Glover, Jermain Defoe of the Toronto FC, and Raptors star DeMar DeRozan.
