What We Saw Inside the REFORM Alliance’s Lavish Gala With Jay-Z, Beyoncé, The Weeknd & More

To the untrained eye, it seems similar conscionable immoderate different play wrong Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort. The past trickle of summertime tourists meander the casino halls, lounge by the pool, and deed the beach’s boardwalk successful a hopeless effort to soak up 1 of the past steamy weekends of the year. But connected Saturday (Sept. 13), fractional of Hollywood softly descended connected the edifice for the REFORM Alliance Casino Night and Gala, 1 of the year’s astir sumptuous fundraisers and parties successful enactment of REFORM’s efforts to alteration probation and parole successful America.

As the plethora of stars — including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kevin Hart, Travis Scott, Ice Spice, Machine Gun Kelly, Quavo, DJ Khaled, Latto, Emma Roberts, Jamie Foxx, French Montana and Ne-Yo — each made their mode into the resort’s Ovation Hall, they were handed fizzling glasses of Armand de Brignac, portion different attendees sipped connected spicy D’USSÉ Sidecars oregon warm, comforting Espresso Martini’s.

Foxx reunited with his Back successful Action co-star Cameron Diaz, laughing and gabbing the nighttime distant portion Foxx’s towering Buffalo Hat shielded his look from nosy onlookers (like Billboard). Robert Kraft — sandwiched successful betwixt Travis Scott and his chap REFORM Alliance Board Member Michael Rubin — shared hushed conversations with both. Kraft would aboriginal bid astir a cardinal dollars for a circular of play with his aged person Tom Brady, who during the night’s scheduled auction appeared illuminated connected the signifier via Zoom to oversee the bidding war.

That circular of golf, which would beryllium played astatine Michael Jordan’s backstage Grove XXIII play club, would really spell for $1.8 million. Elsewhere, an exclusive performance from Megan Thee Stallion and a one-of-one linen George Condo coating would soon aft merchantability for $600,000 and a whopping $3.4 million, overmuch astatine the teasing and baiting of the evening’s big Kevin Hart.

“It’s a circular of golf, Tiffany,” Hart called retired astatine 1 constituent to Tiffany Haddish, who enactment up a bully combat to effort and unafraid herself a 9-hole crippled with the seven-time Super Bowl champ. “It’s not a day with Tom Brady!”

Elsewhere successful the auction, a coating by Rashid Johnson, titled “Soul Painting for Freedom,” sold for implicit a million, portion different bidding warfare ensued for an Audemars Piguet timepiece made exclusively for Jay-Z, who sat sequestered alongside his woman Beyoncé successful the mediate of the banquet hall.

Money was spent, drinks were poured, belly laughs echoed done the halls. Yet portion the evening felt similar an aristocratic meal with immoderate of today’s biggest stars, determination were solemn reminders on the mode astir the existent interaction astatine play with REFORM’s work.

“The ngo hasn’t changed,” Meek Mill told Billboard, portion successful manus extracurricular the gala successful a neatly tailored achromatic necktie ensemble. “We’ve changed astir 22 laws and statutes successful a clump of states. I deliberation the extremity is conscionable to support going. We’re gonna 1 time speech astir the radical successful the strategy that request jobs, truthful yet we’ll task implicit to that. But close present we’re focusing connected parol and probation by going authorities to state, we’ve done 8 oregon 9 states truthful far.”

Since REFORM’s inception successful 2019 — which started aft Meek Mill’s controversial parole violation successful 2017 erstwhile helium popped a wheelie connected his ungraded motorcycle and received a two-to-four twelvemonth situation condemnation — the non-profit has passed 22 bills successful 12 states aimed astatine curtailing the supervision-to-prison pipeline and the supervision-to-poverty trap that effects millions of ex-convicts.

One of those impacted individuals, James Severe, spoke onstage anterior to the auction, and grew affectional arsenic helium shared his ain struggles wrong the situation strategy and however REFORM’s efforts changed his life. Regardless of these heartwarming stories, it’s hard to disregard whether the 2nd Trump Administration volition value transgression justness reform successful the aforesaid mode arsenic REFORM itself.

“I deliberation overall, no,” Rubin said erstwhile Billboard ask...