News 4 experiences a red carpet event

LOS ANGELES, C.A. (WIVB) - Over the weekend, News 4's chief photographer Mike Mombrea and anchor Jacquie Walker flew to Los Angeles for the very serious purpose of covering a fundraiser, which supports suicide prevention services for teenagers. Before the fundraiser, Jacquie and Mike got caught up in a Hollywood red carpet event.

The News 4 team landed outside the Hollywood Palladium Sunday night to cover the soldout fundraiser for The Trevor Project, which offers suicide prevention services to young people struggling with their sexuality. Jamey Rodemeyer's family has joined forces with The Trevor Project after his suicide in September, and they were on stage with Lady Gaga.

The evening began outdoors, where a host of stars, near stars, and maybe someday stars strode the red carpet from the parking lot to the theatre.

So how does a red carpet event work? The News 4 team was about to quickly find out. There's a sign dictating where they are allowed, and Mike and Jacquie were only given so much space to stand and talk to people passing by. When the stars come in, another press person at the event was kind enough to explain to the team that they don't always come right over - sometimes you have to yell to get their attention, and even then, their own media relations person may keep them away.

Jacquie tried to get actress Jane Lynch to stop for a moment after recognizing her racing by, but to no avail. To help identify the interviewees, there's a photo array with names and faces that all reporters keep close at hand because, honestly, not everyone at the event is a household name. Sometimes their publicists will come down the line actually seeking out interviews for them.

As it turned out all the action for the hot stars is at the beginning of the red carpet, where the team couldn't see who was next, but they could hear the clatter.

By the time Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas got all the way down to where the team was, all she was willing to say was, "Hey, Buffalo. What's up?"

But Jacquie had better luck with singer Leann Rimes, who said, "I love this event. Trevor Project is absolutely amazing."

And talk show host Ricki Lake stopped long enough to answer questions and pose for a photo.

But Jacquie's favorite interview was with filmmaker David Furnish, Elton John's partner. He told her he's from Toronto and he's familiar with Jamey Rodemeyer's story.

"I followed the story and I find it heartbreaking. It just shouldn't happen in today's world," said Furnish.

In the end, the red carpet experience can be enlightening and it pretty much lets you know where you stand in the world - "A" list or "D" list - and that goes for folks on both sides of the ropeline!