Variety On the Town

Essence Mag's Power Lunch

The event: Essence Magazine's first annual Black Women in Hollywood luncheon

The details: Thursday at the BevHills Hotel

The guest list: Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kerry Washington, Jurnee Smollett, producer Suzanne de Passe, Ruby Dee and Quincy Jones

The talk: "I know how difficult it is to be a woman in this game, and in this life," said an emotional Pinkett Smith, who was honored with the Power Award.  "If you look at my story and the statistics, I'm not supposed to be here."  (L. McCarthy)

Food For Thought: A V-Day Luncheon

The event: A luncheon hosted by Glamour Magazine celebrating the 10th anniversary of V-Day.

The details: Thursday at Craft in Century City. The event was a prelude to "V To The Tenth," V-Day's two-day event at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome on April 11-12.

The guest list: Jessica Alba, Eve Ensler, Katie Holmes, Paula Wagner, Cindi Leive, Carol Black, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Beals, Marlee Matlin, Dylan McDermott

The menu: goat cheese salad, grilled chicken, caramel ice-cream

The talk:
Kerry Washington: "Eve (Ensler) said the only way to change this (violence against women) is to change the culture. To change how the culture thinks. We in this room are the carriers of culture. We are the modern day story tellers who pass on the image s of who we are as a people and as a society. What we do really matters if we stand up and allow it to. If we take control of those images. And that doesn't mean that in my career I have not played a hooker, because I have. But what it means is that we take responsibility for the humanity of the women we play. If I am playing a hooker, I am not happy about it. I am not glorifying it. What we do in this frivolous tinsel town really, really matters. Living in this town is about fantastic dresses and fancy lunches but it is also about what we do with that."  (M. McNiece)

A 'Grace' Full Lunch

The event: An intimate lunch celebrating the pic "Grace is Gone."

The details: Thursday at Brasserie Ruhlmann in Rockefeller Plaza

The guest list: John Cusack, producer Grace Loh and Harvey Weinstein

The menu: rubber chicken and french fries

The goodies: Each guest took home a DVD of the film.

The talk: While trying to convince guests to go home and watch the pic, Cusack said "I wish Harvey were here - he is a much better salesman than me." Weinstein made a very brief appearance at the affair before sneaking out. Despite his absence, Cusack did "sell" the film to the group by mentioning that "Grace is Gone" is the first and only film other than his own that Clint Eastwood scored.
(A. Morfoot)