out and about
Added: July 2, 2008, 4:29 pm	Share    Print    Email

Singers Nelly and Jill Scott attend the BET Debra Lee Pre-Party Dinner held at Vibiana. Photos by WireImage

On Saturday, after a late night of music and champagne at East Hampton's Lily Pond with long-time friend Jeff Goldstein, of East Hampton shopping destination Blue + Cream, I rise and shine early Sunday morning to begin the long journey to Los Angeles, CA with a trunk of make-up, hair products, and designer gowns mandatory to attend the Annual BET Awards Show and celebration festivities.

First stop, a private dinner at West Hollywood premiere steakhouse STK for dinner with summer music hit-maker and all around hot bod Nelly, sponsored by New Era and Belvedere Vodka. Nelly's closest friends were in attendance including close friend, producer Jermaine Dupree, producer Tracey Edmonds, actor Tim Daley and his son Sam, actress Tisha Campbell, Jill Marie Jones, Jennifer Freeman, and of course BET Chairman and CEO Debra Lee. The gorgeous group bounced to the unreleased upcoming Nelly C.D., sipped Belvedere watermelon-tinis, ate tasty steak menu options, and gave lasting television interviews to the likes of BET "Black Carpet," News2Air News, and TMZ who followed me out to the car to ask "Who are you wearing?" and "Where to next?"

Producer Sean Combs and Alicia Keys at the BET Awards.

The dinner's mission was to highlight the highly anticipated Nelly performance at the BET Awards, the work of his bone marrow matching charity organization, and the upcoming drop of his new album scheduled for August 2008. Wow! What fun!

Monday nights have never been more glamorous...

As a blow-out celebration for sponsors and close friends of Viacom/BET, Debra Lee annually gathers her nearest and dearest to celebrate and thank corporate companies who support BET year-round. This unique, eclectic dinner is always one of the most entertaining pre-BET Awards events. This year we were serenaded into the Vibiana Restaurant, housed in the old Catholic cathedral located in downtown Los Angeles, by the sounds of a full Baptist choir belting out the song lyrics of some of our all around favorite R&B artists. Attendees got into the dancing mood following an exceptional live performance by Grammy award winning artist Jill Scott. Beautiful faces like Maxwell, Ashanti, Nelly, Anita Baker, L'il Kim, Soulja Boy, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Lauren London, Cassie, Tracey Edmonds, and Tyrese danced to the beats of DJ D-Nice and kept us all grooving in our seats and on the dance floor before the lobster and steak dinner and then into the wee hours.

Dinner ambience was 'summer chic' within the confines of the beautiful Cathedral engraved with crosses and fully intact confessionals that provided a juxtaposed backdrop to the dripping candles, friendly chats and glasses of bubbly, if you preferred.

En Vogue at the BET Awards.

After walking the red carpet at the BET Awards and giving a friendly hello to friends (all still recovering I'm sure) from the night before - such as Tyrese and Nelly, I caught a glimpse of Terrence Howard preparing for an awards presentation and Rihanna giving interviews in a breathtaking floor-length neon yellow dress.

Highlights of the 2008 BET Awards included an opening performance by Usher, a 1990s girl group music montage lead by Alicia Keys and complete with SWV, En Vogue, and TLC and a "get out of your seats" performance of "Love and Happiness" by Al Green, one of the evening's special honorees.

A special humanitarian award was presented to Quincy Jones by Debra Lee herself for all of his hard work and commitment to helping others around the world.

Focused and determined to party, my husband Morris and I ventured through massive traffic and over the Hills to music executive Steve Rifkind's mansion looking down at a vibrant LA scene. We descend what feels like a zillion stairs (shouldn't one stair be multiplied by 100 when you're in 6" heels?) that spilled into a palatial but breezy pool deck with leggy LA model types grinning and grinding to hot tunes and mingling with the likes of Ryan Philippe (with main squeeze Abby Cornish) and celeb photographer Johnny Nunez, along with DJ Cassidy. As the valet above came to a screeching halt, out jumped celebs including Diddy, L'il Kim, Queen Latifah, Nelly and Ashanti, L'il Wayne, Rev Run's daughters Vanessa and Angela, Raven Symone, and Fergie who braved the stairs to join the party.

Late nights become early mornings as I packed up my belongings and boarded a flight back to East Hampton for a little R & R, and to download all of the L.A. happenings on to Hamptons.com. Until next time...

Jaci Wilson Reid is an international philanthropist for non-profit organizations focused on women, children, the arts and minority causes. While her participation in philanthropy is highlighted in lifestyle magazines and “who’s who” columns of major U.S. publications, Jaci takes her role in the public eye seriously and serves as a positive role model and inspiration to other women and minorities. Jaci resides in New York City and Washington D.C. with her husband Morris Reid.