Donatella Versace got stuck in an elevator at an LGBTQ+ event and everyone’s making the same joke
Donatella Versace got trapped in an elevator at a star-studded fundraiser for the LA LGBT Center, which she co-hosted with NBA star Dwayne Wade (Getty/Twitter)
Fashion legend Donatella Versace had a slightly less-than-ideal start to her evening as a co-host at the annual L.A. LGBT Center celebration event with Dwayne Wade on Friday (8 March).
Upon arrival at the venue, the Italian fashion designer reportedly became stuck in the elevator with her assistant, her publicist, her security and the head of Versace PR for 10-15 minutes, before finally being freed.
Based on the leaked footage of the rescue, it apparently took at least four people to hold open the elevator doors to allow Versace and her team to escape the faulty lift.
“Ladies first… oh my god!” she was heard to say, as she squeezed carefully through the gap.
The 68-year-old even turned the situation into a fun anecdote during her acceptance speech as she was named the LA LGBT Center’s first global ambassador– she also donated an impressive $50,000 to the center, which provides vital services to the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles and beyond.
Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno also revealed that the dating app company was giving $50,000 to the center.
After being introduced by Dwayne Wade at the rooftop event, Donatella Versace joked: “I feel so honoured to be here tonight. It’s so emotional for me, but also because I was stuck in the elevator. I thought I was never going to make it to this roof, but I did!”
Of course, with X/Twitter being what it is these days (a toxic swamp of people with paid-for blue ticks), people couldn’t help make the same joke about the elevator incident.
“She couldn’t come out of the closet!” said one person, even though it wasn’t a closet.
“Usually they come out of the closet, this time it was an elevator…” said another, arguably more switched-on commentator.
Former NBA star Dwayne Wade acted as co-host at the event. His daughter Zaya is transgender and she attended as well – she was spotted chatting with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Also spotted at the star-studded event were Kathy Griffin, Billy Eichner, Raven-Symoné, RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Symone and Valentina and Queer Eye star Karamo Brown.
“We stand with our daughter,” Dwayne Wade said to the large crowd, who had all come out to support the organisation and its work. Wade has been a staunch ally to his daughter Zaya since she came out as transgender in 2020.
“We stand with our community,” he continued. “We speak loud. We speak proud. And we lead and what we lead with is we lead with love…Everybody here today, I think we all have something in common and that one thing we have in common is we all want to be accepted. We all want acceptance.”
“That’s what it’s about for us. That’s why our voice will be loud to make sure this community, our community, continues to be accepted no matter how many times they try to throw dirt on us or stop us from continuing to grow.”
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