All celebs are not created equal. Prince was more equal than the other Time 100 luminaries honored Tuesday night at the Time Warner Center.
While Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Judd Apatow mingled during the cocktail hour with the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the fuchsia-favoring funkster sequestered himself offstage.
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Prince also declined to take his seat at Table 5 for lobster salad and filet mignon, missing Bill Clinton‘s downer speech about our “unequal, unstable and unsustainable” planet, and — in a quick gear shift —Taylor Swift‘s song about the anguish of finding a date for the prom.
After performing four songs, Prince skipped dessert, when he could have schmoozed with Richard Branson, Jeff Koons, Oscar-winning “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow and Oliver Stone, who joked that his moustache was a nod to his friends in South America.
“Glee” star Lea Michele was also not suffering from humility. When a photographer asked for her name, she replied “Sarah Palin.” Laughter. “No really, what’s your name?” Michele: “Taylor Swift.” Said one witness, “She seemed really annoyed he didn’t know who she was.”
Prince, having avoided the celebs uptown, turned up later at the packed Village Underground on West Third Street. In a corner, sipping an orange juice with ice, the superstar wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t in Saran Wrap. Fortunately for him, lentil soup and Israeli salad from the Olive Tree restaurant nearby were wrapped appropriately.
Joining his band onstage, he sang along to “Controversy” but kept his back to the crowd to avoid fans trying for a photo.
“We’re usually kind of jaded,” club owner Noam Dworman told The Post’s Mandy Stadtmiller. “But nights like this remind us why we do this in the first place. I’ve never seen anybody electrify a room like that, even with his back to the crowd.”