It was a night that at first separated the sexes, but then brought them back together for a late-night party filled with peace, love, harmony, drinks and dancing. On Thursday, two of the city’s biggest fall charity events were held in tandem, with D.C.’s gentlemen sipping scotch and smoking cigars for area education programs at Fight Night and scores of Washington women attending the 16th annual Knock Out Abuse gala. The ladies tipped their glasses to raise awareness of domestic violence at a ’60s-themed dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton Washington.
Among the hundreds of Knock Out Abuse attendees, some of which whom took the ’60s theme very seriously, were two of the D.C.’s Housewives cast, Mary Amons and Lynda Erkelitian, who got a shout-out from emcee Andrea Roane of Channel 9. “New York can’t talk about Washington anymore,” Roane proudly stated. “You all look amazing.” Not in the crowd was Redskins running back Clinton Portis, who didn’t make it because of an injury.
But the real guest of honor was actress Robin Givens, who shared stories about her own violent relationship with her ex-husband, boxer Mike Tyson. “I didn’t understand how a man could say that the best punch he ever threw was against his wife,” she said during one of the more somber moments of the evening.
Things picked up again when the live auction featured a very cute puppy (going for more than $3,000) and some attractive men. Between the proceeds for the auction and the $500-per-person tickets, plenty of money was raised for the cause.
“What’s great about this event is the noise, it’s a party, you are dealing with such a serious issue but it’s so wonderful to come together in this way raising money for women or for shelters,” Givens told Yeas & Nays, shouting over the cacophony of chatting guests and the loud live auction. Givens appeared on Larry King Live talking about the issue earlier in the day, and said she wanted to pay a visit to Capitol Hill sometime, too. “I would love to,” she said. “I go to so many different states where the laws are just non-existent or are very new — we just have some work to do,” she added.
But for now, work looked a lot more like play, as the auction concluded and the tuxedo-clad gentlemen attending Fight Night poured in for a flower-powered dance party.
