Celebrity News

Mary J. Blige, Jeremy Piven campaign for LeBron at Avenue

LeBron James set off a rousing bidding war between Jeremy Piven and Mary J. Blige at Avenue on Thursday night. The NBA superstar is being wooed by cities across the country via parties, ad campaigns and even testimonials from mayors to join their teams. James arrived about 2 a.m. with his wife and a handful of friends, and Blige took over a table next to him a short time later. In the middle of the Chelsea club, “Blige stood on a banquette, got on the microphone, sang a few songs and promoted her new artist, Starshell,” said a witness. After their set, Blige “gave a shout-out to James, and asked him to get on the mike and say a few words.” He did, but then Piven, a Chicago native, pushed his way in and yelled, “Don’t think I didn’t come here to recruit LeBron to play for Chicago! But either way, I’m a huge fan.” The deejay took over and played Usher‘s “OMG” and Jay-Z‘s New York theme song “Empire State of Mind,” making the crowd go bananas.