ROASTING ALLRED
EAfter canceling backto-back events honoring two men who turned out to be less than honorable, the Friars Club will celebrate a champion of women’s rights at their annual roast.
Confidential has learned the private members club will “honor” Gloria Allred with an evening of insults. A date is yet to be determined, though we’re told the event will probably be in June. Choosing Allred would seem to be a safe bet for the Friars, who’d planned to roast Harvey Weinstein prior to his being accused of dozens of counts of sexual assault in October. The disgraced movie mogul maintains his innocence.
As Weinstein’s replacement, the club announced later that month that they would roast Kiss bassist Gene Simmons instead. That idea was nixed in December after a journalist who’d interviewed Simmons in L.A. in November filed a lawsuit against him charging sexual battery. Simmons has denied the charge. That alleged incident occurred days after the Daily Beast reported that Simmons had been banned from Fox Studios in Midtown for sexually harassing female employees there during a visit.
Allred will join stars including Humphrey Bogart, Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball and Richard Pryor as recipients of the Friars Club’s annual skewering. The club also roasted Donald Trump in 2004, which was obviously before the #metoo era.
The 76-year-old power attorney (photo) became a Friar in 1987 after threatening to sue the showbiz-oriented fraternity for its non-inclusive constituency. Club president Milton Berle claimed at the time that there were no dues-paying female members in the club because they’d never had a woman apply for membership. He said he was “very pleased” to make her the first.
Allred’s roast will likely take place at the club’s E. 55th St. townhouse, but could be moved to a larger venue depending on ticket requests. We’re told that no host or comics have yet been contacted about participating. Club reps declined to comment on this report.
We have also learned that club members, which include this column’s editor, will be choosing from a new dinner menu when Allred is honored. The Friars have parted ways with Chef Massimo
Carbon, who took over the Friars Club’s kitchen on Labor Day. He will be replaced by chef Mitchell
London starting on Monday.