Whoopi Goldberg repents for her smoking sins to S. Epatha Merkenson

“I don’t know how we became friends, but we did,” began Whoopi Goldberg of her dear comrade and Law & Order star S. Epatha Merkerson.

Last night, Ms. Goldberg presented Ms. Merkerson with a Help and Hope Award at CancerCare’s annual spring gala for her considerable efforts as an advocate of the fight against cancer.

"I don’t have anyone like her in my life,” said Ms. Goldberg to the audience filling Mandarin Oriental’s ballroom. “She has never made me feel bad for the things I do.”

“Smoking!” chided Ms. Merkerson to the dismay of the undoubtedly anti-smoking, anti-cancer philanthropists.

“Yes—the legal stuff,” Ms. Goldberg confessed.

“Cigarettes!” Ms. Merkerson hissed for all to hear. Everyone chuckled.

After accepting her Tiffany & Co. crystal, Ms. Merkerson, holding back tears, spoke to her profound experience with CancerCare.

“This is the menopause, y’all,” she said in reference to her weepy demeanor. “I’m gonna flow with it.”

“This is a humbling experience,” she continued. “I believe in the care that they give to each client and family. I believe in CancerCare.”

Many may recall that her character on Law & Order, Anita van Buren, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the drama’s final season. A lesser-known fact is that several of Ms. Merkerson’s family members have battled various cancers and received support from CancerCare, which provides cancer victims and their caregivers and families with counseling, support and financial help. In 2011 alone, over 110,000 people benefited from CancerCare.

The gala serves as the organization’s biggest yearly philanthropic initiative. Guests received iPod Touches retrofitted with BidPal, allowing them to place and monitor bids without missing a beat of the action in the ballroom.

Lively Sotheby’s auctioneer C. Hugh Hildesley managed to squeeze every last penny out of the well-heeled crowd with glitzy packages to Paris and the Emmy Awards. Over $100,000 was raised from bid donations alone.

The Mandarin Oriental, 80 Columbus Circle, cocktail reception 6:30pm, presentation and dinner 7:30pm; tickets and information can be found at cancercare.org/gala.

Whoopi Goldberg at the City Council Pride celebration at the Cooper Union.

After a performance by Raven-Symoné, Kimberly Marabel and Aléna Watters of a song from the Broadway musical Sister Act, comedian, actress and entertainer Whoopi Goldberg stepped up to the podium last night at Cooper Union’s Great Hall to emcee the annual City Council Pride celebration.

Ms. Goldberg remarked how she still found it hard to believe that Ms. Symoné was actually grown up, no longer the child star from the Disney Channel. Ms. Goldberg kept the crowd laughing, making jabs at her age (she stated how Susan B. Anthony had spoken in the Great Hall, and how she had been her date) and taking political swipes. She made a disgusted face as she mentioned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and declared, “Chris, you won’t be there much longer.”

Ms. Goldberg handed the microphone over to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who, recently married herself, emphasized that this year's Pride Week was special as it marked the first since New York passed the Marriage Equality Act.

Ms. Quinn handed out proclamations to those who have fought for equality and made the LGBT community safer in New York, including the first public proclamation of the NYPD’s revision of its Patrol Guide to treat transgender people equally. This includes the right for a detained person to be searched by officers of the gender with which one identifies.

Also receiving a proclamation but unable to attend the event, director Dee Rees, whose film Pariah centers on a young women’s struggle to accept her sexuality, joined via a pre-recorded acceptance speech.

The third set of honorees were Hermes Mallea and Carey Maloney, co-chairs of the LGBT initiative at the New York Public Library. They announced the launch of a book drive to provide LGBT young adult novels to New York’s public schools that, as Speaker Quinn noted, would help many youth find refuge in a library.

Whoopi Goldberg's couture threatens to attack poor Julian Bond.

The Observer begrudgingly traipsed back to the Plaza Ballroom for the umpteenth Wednesday night for yet another gala. This time around it was to honor civil rights pioneer and former chairman of the NAACP Julian Bond. We knew that honorary chairman of the affair, Bill Clinton, was too busy saving the world to attend, but a list of enticing notables was expected. How often to you get to have a Tanqueray and tonic with Wanda Sykes?

We surveyed the room, looking for a familiar face or journalistic prey. The affair was utter chaos: swarms of formally dressed patrons, many of them prominent members of the black American community, indulged on rich hors d'oeuvres and buzzed about. The Observer passed up some creamy puff treats for a glass of cabernet and wandered to a back room hidden behind a red curtain, where the VIP cocktail party was in full swing.

On the step-and-repeat we spotted Reverend Jesse Jackson showing off his iPad to a camera crew. Man of the hour Julian Bond beamed and granted interviews. Wanda Sykes entered in a metallic gown, her handlers acting as a blockade. She paced by her many admirers, shaking hands in a robotic yet hilarious daze.

After a refill from the bar, The Observer tried to chase down Dave Matthews with no luck.

“He’s here to perform some songs,” a publicist informed us.

“He’s the token white guy,” yelled a photographer.

Chris Tucker caused some commotion as he posed for fan photos, but the big storm came when Whoopi Goldberg graced the red carpet. All hell broke loose. Publicists hissed, eager journalists lurched and gala attendees crowded in for a closer look. Ms. Goldberg wore something French by way of Japan—Yohji Yamamoto meets Viktor & Rolf. It didn’t work.

The highlight of the evening was chatting up the statuesque Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, who just celebrated her tenth anniversary as an anchor on that morning show:

“Julian Bond. He is a leader. I love the fact that he was in the classroom for as long as he was [as a professor at University of Virginia]. I love the fact that he was on the front lines, so to speak—and that he has taught the lessons that he has learned,” raved Ms. Roberts.

"Did you see Whoopi?” we asked.

“Is Whoopi here?” Roberts shrieked turning her head sharply.

“Yes she was wearing this interesting structured, hammered silk cocoon wrap coat,” we said.

“See, if I tried to do that…”

“A little too wacky for your taste?” The Observer asked.

“Do you like my outfit and my belt? Is it too much?” Ms. Roberts questioned.

“No. We love it!” The Observer exclaimed.

Ms. Robins reported that she had been up since 3 a.m. and was preparing for an upcoming appearance on The Colbert Report. Mr. Bond himself has also appeared on the fake news show.

“I love when you can take the headlines and politics and find humor. But there is also the truth,” she said.

“We try to do that at The Observer. Do you read it?”

“I do. So you be very nice,” she warned with a finger wave.

We promised. “What do you do to keep your energy going with such early?” The Observer wanted to know.

“Namaste,” Ms. Roberts replied bowing.

“What kinda of yoga? Bikram?”

“No—you don’t wet my hair! Are you cray-cray!?” she yelled. “I’m not into low impact, I’m into no impact.”

After being confused for the caterer on our arrival, we checked out the intimate scene for the book party. On hand for the evening were hosts Candice Bergen, Marshall Rose, and Annette de la Renta. Whoopi Goldberg spoke to Alan Rickman quietly in the corner. We tried to approach Mr. Rickman first, telling him how much we enjoyed Seminar, but were met by a Professor Snape-like stare and a curt “Thank You.” We fared better with Ms. Goldberg, who happened to be wearing a very unique pair of polka-dotted flats.

“Are those shoes from Irregular Choice?” We gasped. The Prince and Lafayette boutique was our favorite place for footwear.

“They are! Do you have the type the sneakers that light up?” Ms. Goldberg asked us.

“No! We have the space boots with the toys inside them! Do you know they have a store in London?”

“Yes, on Cambridge Street! I couldn’t believe it!”

Shoe sisters forever, we decided to ask Ms. Goldberg about the man in question.

“Jerry could be so incredibly mean when he was angry,” Ms. Goldberg confided. “Luckily, he was never angry at me.” Ms. Goldberg later recounted a similar story during her brief time holding the microphone. Mr. Schoenfeld had encouraged Ms. Goldberg to do her self-titled one-woman show in 1984, and told The View host to come back to the stage for a revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1996.

“I saw him get mad at other people, but never me, thank God,” Ms. Goldberg told us privately. Also on hand for the evening was Mr. Schoenfeld’s widow, Pat Schoenfeld.

“Any funny stories about you and your husband that didn’t make it into his memoir?” We asked. Ms. Schoenfeld stared at us, not unlike Mr. Rickman. (Okay, so maybe we were a little under-dressed for the occasion.) “We had 55 years together, our story is too long to tell you right now,” she replied.

Maybe we should just read the book. Luckily, the publicist handed us two copies of Mr. Broadway on our way out the door. Lucky for us, we happened to catch the elevator with Mr. Rickman, who glowered as the numbers move slowly down.

“As long as I make it out of this damn elevator,” the thespian drawled in response to a friend’s unheard question.

The takeaway? Never get into a small space with Alan Rickman, because he is terrifying. Also, Whoopi Goldberg has great taste in shoes.

Cineaste Kellan Lutz (Getty Images)

The Tribeca Film Festival has announced its sizable jury in advance of the Festival's launch Wednesday--it's to be led by director Irwin Winkler (The Net). The numerous stars are to be split into panels judging six panels: Patricia Clarkson, critic Lisa Schwarzbaum, and Dakota Fanning are among those judging the World Narrative Competition, for instance. Kim Cattrall and Michael Moore are among the judges for the World Documentary Competitition, while Twilight's Kellan Lutz and Whoopi Goldberg are helping to judge the Best New Narrative Director Competition.

The jury prize for Best Jury, though, goes to Documentary and Student Short Films, which features Brett Ratner, Susan Sarandon, The Descendants's Shailene Woodley, and Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun. Oh, to be a fly on the wall!