I attended the Shaun Livingston Foundation “Get a Cue Challenge” Party in Santa Monica this past Thursday night. This was the first time that I reported from the red carpet. It could not have happened without Shaun Livingston’s publicist, Neeta inviting me so I give a special thanks to Neeta of Ideal PR.

Pictures from the Red Carpet courtesy of Forever Photography.

I had the pleasure of meeting so many talented individuals.

I was first introduced to Matthew Borlenghi from Days of Our Lives. He plays, Anthony Marino…the new Mayor of Salem. Matthew says, “Yes! I’m a Mayor. That’s when you know it is daytime TV, when a guy like me can become Mayor of a city.” He adds, “You do not know if I am out for the good of the people of Salem or the good of Anthony Marino.”

Also from Days of Our Lives, I met McKinley Freeman, who plays Evan on the show. I asked him how his character, Evan has changed for the better or for the worse and he replied, “I don’t know how much that I can give away but it is definitely for the better for now.”

Then, Omarosa walked onto the red carpet. I got a chance to talk with her briefly. She has a new book, The Bitch Switch: Knowing How to Turn it On and Off that will release in October 2008. Next to walk the red carpet, Schatar from the VH1 shows, Flavor of Love and Charm School.

“For those who don’t know, I am a classically trained musician. I trained in opera so I know music theory. I have a 5 octave range (sings). Also, I am finally doing my own show, titled, What’s Next.”

Pictured With Schatar: RonReaco Lee (Do Not Disturb).

I was then introduced to Joyful Drake, who you can see on the new season of The Game (The CW). Her character, Sheila is an Essence news reporter. Joyful says, “She is smart and sophisticated and she is very nosy. Sheila can get into anything, but she can also be very sincere and redeem herself. She just wants to get a juicy story and sometimes she crosses the line.”

Funny guy, Kwame Boateng (Everybody Hates Chris) was on the red carpet as well. He has an upcoming film, Not Easily Broken with Morris Chestnut coming out in January 2009 and a new Nickelodeon show, The Norton Avenue All Stars.
On the new Nickelodeon show, Kwame says, “It’s like Little Rascals meets puberty. It is a teenage show that is very kid friendly. It is a really fun show.” I had to ask him why he decided to cross over from Everybody Hates Chris to Nickelodeon. He said, “I was a guest star on Everybody Hates Chris and with this Nickelodeon show I am a series regular. Now I am hitting a broader audience. Every kid watches Nickelodeon so it is a huge move.”

From The Lakers, Jordan Farmar had this to say about Shaun Livingston’s foundation, “I am happy Shaun is doing something for the community that he is excited about so I am here for support. I started my own foundation last year and I know how important it is to have support from celebrities.”

Others that I got the chance to briefly talk to on the red carpet include: Katie Gill (The Mentalist, An American Carol), Marcus T. Paulk (Moesha, Another Cinderella Story), Abercrombie and Fitch Model Billy Marquart (Janice Dickinson Show), Kofi Siriboe (The Long Shots), Charles Porter (Don’t Fade Away) Menyane (Notorious) and Mekhi Phifer (ER).

If you love Mekhi Phifer but have not been watching ER (NBC) on Thursday nights, this 15th season is the last. Mekhi told me that ER shoots 9/10 months out of the year! But if you are all about the big screen, you won’t have to wait long to see a lot more of him there. He has many upcoming projects that you will want to look out for.

Also in attendance, D. Woods of Danity Kane, Vida Guerra, 2008 Olympic Volleyball Players Lindsey Berg & Kim Glass, and William Allen Young among a long list of attendees.

Lastly, of course I got to meet Shaun Livingston. As for the future of his foundation, Shaun had to say, “I want to partner up with charities and continue to bring celebrities in to promote this.”

The “Get A Cue Challenge” Party was a very successful and very memorable night. There were celebrities left and right no matter where I walked, all enjoying themselves and raising money and awareness for a good cause.

For more information about the Shaun Livingston Foundation, go here.