Inside the Star-Studded 20th Annual amfAR Gala in New York

Not even a torrential downpour could stop celebrities from coming out in droves to last night’s 20th annual amfAR gala in New York’s Cipriani Wall Street. For an evening that honored Empire’s Lee Daniels and W magazine editor in chief Stefano Tonchi, Taraji P. Henson (aka Cookie Lyon) played hostess, and the actress took to the stage to remind the star-studded crowd that while for almost 35 years amfAR has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS—and has made enormous progress on treatment and prevention—there are still 35 million people living with the disease worldwide. “And that’s why we’re here tonight,” Henson said as she raised a celebratory glass of Perrier-Jouët. “I urge you to dig deep—dig deep down in your socks, honey, be as generous as you can, let’s save some lives!” And dig deep they did—this year’s gala raised more than $1.6 million.