Oprah Winfrey beamed with pride Wednesday night at a
private screening of her new seven-part TV series, “Belief,” which
highlights faiths around the globe and how humans are all connected.
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| Oprah Winfrey |
Walking on stage following a screening of Episode 1 of “Belief: The
Seekers,” Winfrey scanned the faces of the viewers, saying “wow!” to
heavy applause before moderating a panel with producer David Shadrack Smith.
In the audience was Arianna Huffington, who discussed her own beliefs with Confidenti@l.
“Yes, I believe in God, and as the series shows, even people who don’t
believe in God believe in something beyond money and power, which are
the two big goals in most people’s lives,” Huffington said. “What is
clear in the series is that that’s not enough.”
The digital doyenne went on to say that even though she’s achieved both
great money and power, “something higher” is a constant in her life.
“(God has) become more and more important,” she said, adding that faith
has helped her with her daughter Christina’s addiction issues, which
she has been open about.
“Well, I believed in something, and that made it much easier to feel
that there must have been a hidden blessing,” she said. “Christina still
writes every night, even now, and she’s been sober for almost four
years. She writes down three things that she’s grateful for and she
shares them with three friends.”
Winfrey (inset), coming off 25 years of her own talk show, was at a
professional low, she said, when at first her network, OWN, wasn’t
turning a profit. “Belief” became an “ah-ha” moment for her.
“Telling these kinds of stories is what I created a network to do so I
thought regardless of what else, whatever demands are on my time,
whatever else is going on, this is what I want to do,” she said.
Producers Michael Davie and Eric Strauss,
who spent three years flying around the world making the series, spoke
about trusting the long and arduous process of making the show. Reshma
Thakkar, who appears as one of the seekers in the first episode, told us
she was startled to see her hands on a giant billboard for the show in
Times Square.
Among those who mingled with a smiling Winfrey at a postscreening
cocktail party below the screening room at the TimesCenter were Gayle King, Barbara Walters, Deepak Chopra, Common and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
FOOD FEST SERVES DAILY BRAD
Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller will
take part in a Q&A at the NYC Wine & Food Festival following a
private screening of their foodie flick “Burnt” on Sunday. VIPs expected
at the screening include Martha Stewart, Alex Guarnaschelli, Bethenny Frankel, Daniel Boulud, Katie Lee, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Haylie Duff. In the film, Cooper plays a world-class chef.
Beyoncé pays tribute to Old Glory on the cover of Beat
magazine. The “World Wide Woman” singer sported red and white stripes
for the cover shoot, which was snapped by shutterbug Ryan McGinley in the Hamptons. Bey’s Beat cover, along with the rest of the magazine, will be released on Oct. 21.
PRESIDENTIAL SWEET
Former Fugee Pras Michel will host a screening of his
documentary “Sweet Mickey for President” at the Friars Club on Oct. 23.
The film documents the Haitian rapper’s return to his homeland following
the earthquake that ravaged the island in 2010. Once there, he gets
involved in Michel (Sweet Mickey) Martelly’s successful
presidential campaign, which becomes complicated when Pras’ former
bandmate, Wyclef Jean, enters the race. Spoiler alert: Sweet Micky
ultimately wins the election, with help from Sean Penn, Ben Stiller and Bill Clinton.
TAKING TIME OUT TO THROW A PARTY
Time Out New York celebrated its 20th anniversary Wednesday with a
party appropriately surrounded by iconic Big Apple sights. Guests on the
rooftop of Gary’s Loft gazed up at illuminated water tanks with the
Empire State Building just a block away. Editor-in-chief Carla Sosenko
told Confidenti@l, “This party harnesses a lot of what we’re
about-eating and drinking and dancing and music — so it’s been pretty
unreal to get all these people in a room together who are totally into
what we’ve been doing for two decades.”
LIVE! WITH MICHAEL & GABBY
Former Giant Michael Strahan unites with actress Gabrielle Union at the AOL Studios in for an AOL Build chat. Among other things, Union chatted up her BET show “Being Mary Jane.”
MRS. CUOMO DOES IT SOLO
Fresh off covering the Democratic debates in Las Vegas, CNN’s Chris Cuomo was expected by event organizers to join his wife Cristina in hosting a Wednesday night dinner party honoring economist Jeffrey Sachs
at Tender Bar & Grill in Midtown’s Sanctuary Hotel. But when it
turned out that the CNN host had a previous engagement and couldn’t make
it, the missus took care of business. “His wife filled in beautifully
and made the toast to the 18 people at the dinner,” we’re told.
STRIKING CLOSE TO ‘HOMELAND’
Artists hired to paint Arabic graffiti on the set of “Homeland” didn’t
follow orders — and their disgruntled messages were broadcast to
millions Sunday night. Angry with its portrayal of the Muslim world, the
team scrawled “Homeland is racist” and “#blacklivesmatter,” among other
messages. Alex Gansa, creator of the show starring Claire Danes,
told the Daily News in a statement, “As ‘Homeland’ always strives to be
subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation, we can’t
help but admire this act of artistic sabotage.”
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