Nothing like a little championship bling to get the party started in Hollywood. The Lakers lauding continued this week with a parade downtown on Wednesday followed by the Official Victory Celebration at Club Nokia on Thursday, where Lil Wayne and Kanye West serenaded Kobe Bryant (below, with wife Vanessa and Jeremy Piven) and his boys. Among those looking up — way up — to the NBA titleholders: Jimmy Kimmel, Adrian Grenier, Lou Adler and Erika Christensen …
Sasha Vujacic soaked up some more Laker love at the opening of BOA Steakhouse on Wednesday, where fans chanted “champ” upon his arrival. Poor Ryan Seacrest, an investor in the restaurant, appeared all the smaller next to the giant. Also dwarfing the crowd, which included producers Chuck Lorre, Lawrence Bender and Stephen Levinson: a female stilt-walker wearing little more than a thong, who gladly provided partygoers with plenty of fodder for their Facebook pages …
And now onto the scene in Westwood, where Film Independent’s L.A. Film Festival kicked off Thursday night with “Paper Man.” Dermot Mulroney lent his support to his brother and sister-in-law, Kieran and Michelle Mulroney, who wrote and directed the film, while surprise guest Robert Downey Jr. finished his day of shooting “Iron Man II” in time for “date night” with his wife. After the screening, scene-stealer Emma Stone held court at Napa Valley Grille alongside Christina Ricci, Laura Dern and Christian Slater …
On Friday, the fest festivities continued with an after-party for rock doc “It Might Get Loud” at Hotel Palomar. But Jimmy Page and Jack White with his new band the Dead Weather actually kept it down for guests, including J.J. Abrams, who hung in VIP with director pal Davis Guggenheim …
Meanwhile, fellow rock legend Roger Daltrey made some noise at the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame’s 10th Anniversary as did Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and this year’s inductees Josh Groban and Kiri Te Kanawa …
On Saturday, things were kept down to a dull roar at the 39th Annual Beastly Ball thanks to a guest list that included black bears, hippos, a rhino, Sumatran tigers, and mountain tapirs. Longtime supporter Betty White cozied up to a snake at the affair, which honored Laura Wasserman and raised over a million bucks for the LA Zoo …
Finally, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences kicked off Father’s Day Weekend with a salute to TV dads including Dick Van Dyke (with Jon Cryer, above), Michael Gross, Bryan Cranston, Bill Paxton, Dick Van Patten, Patrick Duffy, Stephen Collins, Reginald VelJohnson and Tom Bosley …
