Shimmery sequined tablecloths, a deep purple “red” carpet andpurple lighting defined the star-studded 2022 Gateway Celebrity Fight Night in the Grand Sonoran Ballroom at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.
The long-running fundraiser was started by Jimmy Walker in 1994. This year the event — which has raised more than $90 million for charitable causes since its start —has been rebranded as Gateway Celebrity Fight Night after a merger between Gateway for Cancer Research and Celebrity Fight Night.
With a new focus on cancer research, the Phoenix event is now under the leadership of Richard J. Stephenson and his wife Dr. Stacie J. Stephenson, Gateway's chairman and vice chair, respectively.
“We are going to kick a lot of tires, a lot of fires and get on down the road for a celebration of life and love," Richard J. Stephenson told The ArizonaRepublic before the event began.
What is Gateway Celebrity Fight Night?
The black-tie galawasalively evening of auction bidding, booming musical performancesand a meal complete with prime beef filet and limoncello.
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Country superstar Reba McEntire emceed, with auctioneer Trey Morris auctioning off luxury tripsand experiences with celebrities. Walker gave a tribute to his son who passed two years ago,and the Stephensons introduced their Celebrity Fight Night vision for the years to come.
Musical director David Foster leda show including performances by "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, Michael Bolton and Tony Orlando, Canadian trio The Tenors and rapper CeeLo Green.The nightended with a surprise announcement from headliner and world-renowned rapper Pitbull, who is launching a new project in the Valley.
"Any chance I get that we can give back, you can sign me up," Pitbull told The Republic.
Who walked the CelebrityFight Night red carpet?
Sean Currie, executive director of the event, came down first, wearing a burgundy red suit jacket.
The merger of Celebrity Fight Night with Gateway for Cancer Research has only been positive, Currie told The ArizonaRepublic.
"Our goal is to be the best event in the country and Gateway for Cancer Research is one of the best charities we could ever be a part of,” Currie said. “Their goals are the same as ours, to put on an event that raises the most money and makes a difference.”
Walkeralso went downthe red carpet, along with actor and television host Cameron Mathison, this year's guest of honor who received the first Mary Brown Stephenson Award, named forRichard Stephenson's mother who died from cancer. The award honors an individual who has survivedcancer and used that experience for public advocacy or philanthropy.
"It doesn't feel real," Mathison told The Republic.
Gateway for Cancer Research CEO and founder Michael Burton walked alongside the Stephensons.
Singers and musicians CeeLo Green,Jordin Sparks, Michael Bolton,David Foster, Katharine McPhee, the Tenors, The London Essentials, Tony Vincent, Matt Mauser and Tony Orlando walked the carpet, too.
Actors and TV personalitiesBo Derek, Dale Moss, Melissa Peterman, Kevin Sorbo and Alicia Quarles followed, and athletes Seth Joyner, David Ross, Tom Chambers and Cedric Ceballos also made appearances.
McEntirearrivedin a long-sleeve, floor-lengthnavy blue velvet dress with silver sequins at theneckline. She has emceed Celebrity Fight Night for at least 15 years. Favorite memories include taking photos with Shaquille O’Neal, Muhammad Ali, Whitney Houston andFaith Hill and talking with Robin Williams, McEntire told The Republic.
What keeps her coming back?
“The fun, curiosity, great entertainment and a great cause,” McEntire said.
Foster echoed thatsentiment — he’s served as the event's musical director for more than 20 years.
“I think it’s a duty, a calling," Foster told The Republic. "It's a responsibility and all ofthat all sounds corny, but if you’re given the gift, which I was, then I’m happy to be here and happy to do it."
Phoenix native and "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, who worea sheer, long-sleeve patternedgown,said it was good to be home.
“I'm happy to be out and especially being able to come back home to my hometown,” Sparks said.“It's nice. I know I'm going to recognize and see some familiar faces.
"There’s a quote by Audrey Hepburn where she says we have two hands, one to help ourselves and one to help others.And that just really stuck with me from a young age. So for me, I've just always been involved wherever I can roll up my sleeves and get in.”
Pitbull headlined Celebrity Fight Night. Here's what he performed
World-famousrapper and singerPitbull, whose real name isArmando Christian Pérez, headlined the event.
He won the crowd with favorites including “Don’t Stop the Party,” “Fireball,” “Time of Our Lives,” “Feel This Moment” and“Timber.” He closed the night with “Give Me Everything.”
Guests flocked to the stage for his set, which was preceded byperformances by The Tenors, Michael Bolton, Matt Mauser, Katharine McPhee, Jordin Sparks, Tony Orlando, Reba McEntire and CeeLo Green.
Pitbull, who lost his father, brother and mother to cancer, has a history of philanthropy. in 2017, he sent his private plane to Puerto Rico to bring cancer patients to the mainland for chemotherapy treatments.Hehas also been heavily involved with the Christiannonprofit World Vision Foundation. He was named a“Clean Water Here Global Ambassador" after receiving the2018 World Water Champion Award for his advocacy for all peopleto havesafe water.
He closed his performance by announcing that he and his team would donate $50,000 to Gateway Center for Research.
“A lot of people look at giving back as a responsibility,” Pitbull told The Republic. “I see it as an obligation. If you've been blessed to be able to be at a certain level in your life, on a certain platform, then you should lead by example, and always give back.
"Living is giving. There's nothing that we take with us, no matter what we acquire in life. It's all about what we leave behind and what we give back."
Celebrity Fight Night comes at a time when people need it most, he said.
"Fear means two things,” Pitbull told The Republic before his performance. “Fear means ‘forget everything and run,’or fear means ‘face everything and rise.’
"I believe in fear but what I mean by that is, face everything and rise. That's what we do with the word fear. And that's what I feel like what we're doing here in a room like this one tonight, and it's an honor to be here, a blessing and I look forward tomaking sure everybody out there has a great time and we create awareness for cancer at another level.”
Is a Pitbull SLAM school coming to Arizona?
Pitbull alsoannounced plans to open a SLAMtuition-free public K-5 charter schoolin Mesa in August. The acronym stands for sports, leadership arts and management.
He opened twocharter schools in Miami in 2013— ahigh school called Sports Leadership Academy of Miami and a middle school calledSports Leadership and Management.The SLAM Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization that represents12 public charter schools in underrepresented communities, per its website.
Pitbull first announced his plan to open a school in Arizona in 2018 at a consortium of technology leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials in Paradise Valley.
"Let’s show the world what happens when Miami and Arizona gets together to do some amazing things,” Pitbull said duringhis performance.
Here's how much Fight Night raised for cancer research
More than $5 million wasraised for Gatewayfor Cancer Research, Stacie Stephenson announced at the end of the evening.
Much of that sum was raised through an auction. McEntire even auctioned off her dress unexpectedly.It sold for $120,000.
Other auction itemsincluded dinner in Nashville with McEntire, an all-inclusive stay at an overwater villa inthe Maldives, golf and dinner with football legend Larry Fitzgerald, a 2022 Toyota Tundra, a South African safari adventureand skydiving over a location of the winner'schoosing: Iceland, Egypt or the Bahamas.
"We want to raise a lot of money, first and foremost,” Michael Burton, president and CEO for Gateway forCancer Research, toldThe Republic. “Then we want to take that money and invest in innovative research.”
Gateway for Cancer Research, a nonprofitbased in Illinois,is a global sponsor of clinical cancer research. Ninety-ninecents of every raised dollar directly funds early-phase clinical trials at research institutions across the world. The organization has more than 71 cancer trials underwayaround the globe, Stacie Stephenson said.
The plan is to take Celebrity Fight Night worldwide, shesaid.
“The home of Gateway Celebrity Fight Night will always be Phoenix,” she said. “We see the opportunity to take it globally, to move to different cities in addition to Phoenix.
"And we hope to put ourselves and Gateway for Cancer Research out of business. If this were our last gala ever, I’d be happy, because that means there’d be no more suffering. But if they’re still suffering, we are going to keep doing it.”
Reach the reporter at sofia.krusmark@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram@sofia.krusmark.
