Bette Midler’s annual Hulaween gala turned into a joke fest, with politically charged barbs from comic Judy Gold and laughs from even Mayor Bloomberg.
“Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin couldn’t make it tonight because their Confederate flag costume got caught in a cab door,” Gold, dressed as a character from “Orange Is the New Black,” said from the stage at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Gold rolled on at the Thursday night bash: “John Boehner couldn’t come this evening because he found out someone else was dressed as Tan Mom . . . Paula Deen couldn’t make it, she has an interview at Dallas BBQ . . . Kathy Sebelius was going to come, but she encountered some glitches when she tried to download the invitation online. Eliot Spitzer is not here, but if you need him he is in Room 871 . . . Finally, we are so sorry to tell you that our president and his beautiful wife, Michelle, are delayed because they’re being held at the 19th Precinct after attempting to purchase a sweater at Barneys.”
Midler, who was dressed as a grand marshal in a New Orleans funeral parade, toasted Bloomberg: “I gotta say you’re not the tallest guy in the room, but you have left the biggest shoes to fill,” she said.
“I had a difficult time this year deciding what costume to wear,” Bloomberg, in orange pants and black shirt, told the crowd. “I thought I’d dress up as Robin Thicke, but Bette refused to perform a song with me.”
He continued, “Then I thought I’d come as the character Bette played so brilliantly on Broadway this year, Sue Mengers. I don’t look good as a blonde, sorry. So finally I decided to come as I do every year, as George Clooney . . . I’m a younger George Clooney.”
Also at the annual event to raise funds for the New York Restoration Project were Billy Crystal, Katie Couric, Michael Kors and Harry Connick Jr., who performed while Midler led a spontaneous conga line around the room.