A security sweep in the middle of this charity gala had guests anticipating a surprise Beyoncé visit — but they got Mayor Eric Adams instead.
And while Adams may have dropped out of the mayoral race, he oddly told guests he’s here to stay in NYC.
At Denise Rich’s 27nd annual Angel Ball on Monday, Adams took the stage and declared he’s “not going anywhere,” in case anyone was wondering about his post-government life.
“The greatest moment of my life is being mayor of the greatest city on the globe,” Adams, who ended his bid for reelection last month, told the crowd.
“There are a lot of question marks and uncertainties that lingers over our city, but I want you to straighten one question mark into an exclamation point: I am not going anywhere,” he confusingly assured the gathering.
Adams added he’s, “going to make sure this great city will continue to be the great city that we know it to be,” which left some guests scratching their heads.
“How’s he going to do that? Where’s he gonna be?” one quipped.
Adams popped into Rich’s gala unannounced, as he has done in previous years.
A security sweep in the middle of the ball had gala goers anticipating a surprise Beyoncé visit, instead of the outgoing pol.
The iconic singer’s mom, Tina Knowles, was honored for her philanthropy and everyone within her universe seemed to be in the room, including her longtime stylist, Ty Hunter, publicist Yvette Noel-Schure, former Destiny’s Child bandmate Michelle Williams, bodyguard Julius and her teen daughter, Blue Ivy.
Mary J. Blige and chef Alexander Smalls were also seated at the table.
Beyoncé, however, was there in product: Guests took home a giftbag that included the “Cuff It” singer’s Cecred hair products.
Her husband, Jay-Z, also supplied his Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades” champagne for the gala — which saw some partygoers leaving with a bottle of the fancy bubbly.
Gayle KIng hosted the charity gala that raises money to help fund cancer research.
Rich created the foundation to honor her daughter, Gabrielle, who passed away at 23 after battling advanced staged Hodgkin’s disease.
Angel Ball regulars Clive Davis, Greg Schreifer, Simone Smith, Star Jones, Nina Cooper, DJ Cassidy, Harvey Spevak, Bianca Peters, Monte and Angelina Lipman, Camilla Olsson, Lorraine Schwartz, Ofira Sandberg, Charlie Walk, Ronny Kobo, Dennis Basso, Tara Rudes Dann, Steve Dann, and Ubah Hassan were all on the scene. Victoria Silvstedt, Loree Rodkin, Lil Kim and LL Cool J also attended.
Broadway couple Barry and Fran Weissler were seated at Davis’ table. (The 97-year-old Fran gushed to us about how Barry is “11 years younger.”)
The gala also honored environmentalist Amy Green, and Skye and Don Rufus Hankley, in addition to “Matriarch” author Knowles.
Montego Glover, Paul Russell, Patti LaBelle and Ja Rule closed out the evening on the stage.
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