A whole host of stars embarked at popular New Jersey casino, Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, as Jay-Z, Michael Rubin and Meek Mill hosted the REFORM Alliance Casino Night and Gala last weekend, one of the organization’s major annual fundraisers.
What is REFORM Alliance?
The US non-profit was founded in 2019 by the aforementioned artists, and they – with the help of their celebrity buddies – raised approximately $20m for criminal justice reform for the second successive year.
When founding the Alliance, the philanthropists pledged a combined $50m to the organization and to create a bipartisan response – regardless of political allegiance – to what are considered unjust sentencing laws in America.
REFORM Alliance’s ultimate mission is to reform, hence the name you would assume, the probation and parole system in the United States.
They aim to help others by reducing over-supervision, minimising technical violations and helping those supervised by the system find some form of stability, potential work and wellbeing.
What happened at the REFORM Alliance casino & gala night?
A whole host of A-listers in the worlds of sport, music and film attended the resort’s Fanatics Sportsbook – all in attendance for a good cause – to participate in an auction for charity.
It is a high-profile, black-tie, invite-only event combining fundraising and entertainment.
Hov, DJ Khaled and Quavo are said to have wagered big, with the likes of Beyoncé, French Montana, Kevin Hart, Corey Gamble, Jamie Foxx, Tiffany Haddish, Ice Spice, Machine Gun Kelly, Latto, Fabolous, Travis Scott and more taking part in the sale.
Participating in the alleged blackjack tournament required a rumoured buy-in of around $100,000, with non-tournament attendees having to cough up around $50,000 to attend.
Some of the items listed for sale included an exclusive concert from Megan Thee Stallion (which went for $600,000) and a round of golf with Tom Brady at Michael Jordan’s private Grove XXIII golf club (which raised $1.8m courtesy of two $900,000 bids).
Other items were: a painting by American visual artist George Condo (sold for a supposed $3.4m); a limited edition KAWS x Audemars Piguet watch was also included; alongside another Audemars Piguet timepiece which was initially made exclusively for Jay-Z, donated from the rapper’s personal collection.
The Weeknd took to Oceans’ Ovation Hall for a full-blown concert experience too, alongside performances from Travis Scott, Ice Spice, Quavo, DJ Khaled and Chase B.
Beyond the glitz and glamor, the event aims to draw attention and raise large-scale funding for criminal justice reform – especially probation and parole reform. Significant sums raised and celebrity involvement should help to push forward REFORM’s legislative agenda.
Proceeds go to REFORM’s work – ultimately helping in legislative advocacy, job placement, grants to organizations working with people affected by supervision or incarceration and implementation of passed laws.
The function can also act as a stage for storytelling, with the gala helping provide a platform for people that are able to share their experiences which ultimately help in advocacy. Political and philanthropic momentum can be encouraged by celebs’ participation.
Several outlets are claiming that 100% of the proceeds go toward programming, since administrative costs are covered by the board.
