Will Arnett, Michael Bloomberg and more wish New York’s PAC a happy birthday
Many people came to sing his praises, in some cases literally. Christy Turlington explains that MTV is the reason the ’80s looked different from the ’90s and says that in the early days of the network, you could tell a city that had MTV from one that didn’t based on how people dressed people there. amazing 5 Freddy, landlord of This! MTV rap songs, salute Freston for bringing “hip-hop to the heartland” and around the world. Saint Vincent reminiscing about how she was glued to MTV as a kid, especially 120 minutes (hoping for another look at Fiona Apple), before covering George Michael’s “Faith” — though she added that the late pop star had “a much nicer butt than mine.”
Oprah Winfrey expressed her appreciation for Freston via video, Bono and Edge, who covered David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”—the lyrics “ground control for Major Tom” nicely captured some tailor-made lines about Freston. Bono also thanked “Rabbi Ronald Perelman” and “Mayor Mike Bloomberg.”
Also included in the program are: Jelly balls‘S André De Shields, an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner who wore the best zebra print suit I’ve ever seen, and of the show Chasity Moore, who sang “Memory”. Tony winner Alex Newell brought the house down with a thoroughly engaging version of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” (Is it against the rules to say that Newell might even sound better than Whitney Houston?)
Will Arnett had a little Q&A with Freston about his unusual career path, which began for him as a wandering soul in the early ’70s, thanks to a lucky spin of the roulette wheel in Yugoslavia ( no joke), had a successful time in the schmatte trade in Yugoslavia. Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion drove him out of the country. His love of music, along with his business intelligence, work ethic and relationships, got him hired to run MTV, despite having no experience in television.
Arnett also tells the story of Freston’s confrontation with Viacom boss Sumner Redstone when Redstone wanted to buy MySpace. Freston knew it wasn’t a smart play, and then Rupert Murdoch bought that company for $580 million but then sold it for $35 million. Arnett joked about it to an audience of business and showbiz insiders, including Larry Silverstein, Mellody Hobson, Laura Lendrum, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Randall Poster, And Peter Shapiro.
Time and time again, guests mentioned how Freston was inspired by his love of music. Arnett asked about the best show he had ever seen, and Freston mentioned the private show Baaba Maal gave in to a studio in Senegal when he, Trey Anastasio from Phish, and Dave Matthews Go there to shoot a film about the Baobab Orchestra: “They played for hours, stopped to roast a goat, then continued playing again.” This prompted the legendary Afrobeat performer to appear with four supporting musicians to close the night with some high-energy songs.
After this event, another legend, Benitez Jellyfish, filmed in the lobby as people ate pesto gnocchi, drank wine and got into Ubers to go home.
