{"id":286620,"date":"2025-10-08T13:32:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286620\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:32:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:32:21","slug":"taylor-sheridan-nicole-kidman-and-diana-ross-make-for-one-hell-of-a-dallas-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/286620\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Sheridan, Nicole Kidman and Diana Ross make for one hell of a Dallas party"},"content":{"rendered":"

The list of celebrities at the Oct. 4 charity bash for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, was so bright and shiny it took a while to notice Teri Hatcher, former star of Desperate Housewives, would be hosting. A performance by Diana Ross! An award for Landman<\/a> powerhouse Taylor Sheridan! My eyes kept drifting to Nicole Kidman. The Nicole Kidman? In Dallas? Less than a week after filing for divorce<\/a> from Keith Urban? I\u2019ll believe it when I see it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Nicole is gonna cancel,\u201d I told my editor, and the photographer, and then random people when I dropped her name, because such pull-outs are common. But if anyone could drag the Aussie queen to a charity event in North Texas only days after her split hit the tabloids, it would be amfAR.<\/p>\n

Co-founded 40 years ago by Elizabeth Taylor, amfAR has been throwing star-studded fundraisers in Dallas for a quarter century. The foundation <\/b>joined forces with the Dallas Museum of Art to create Two x Two<\/a>, held at a modernist gem off Northwest Highway called the Rachofsky House<\/a>, transformed each fall for an epic party. Two x Two closed up shop last year, so this was the first time amfAR was hosting the gala elsewhere, in this case the Preston Hollow estate of Kathleen and Scott Kirby.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just their back house<\/p>\n

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I took a shuttle from Ursuline Academy to a stately red-brick house whose sidewalk was flanked by Texas Rangers in cowboy hats, a very Taylor Sheridan touch. I headed down a pathway lined with magnolias that opened onto an outdoor set that looked forklifted from Sunset Boulevard. A red carpet behind a velvet rope, and to my right, a glitzy elevated stage, also red, with chic white couches and a centerpiece bar, all courtesy Todd Fiscus of Todd Events<\/a>, whose years with Two x Two established him as the best party-thrower in town.<\/p>\n

North Texas is a bit tipsy for Hollywood, and who could blame us? They\u2019re so glamorous; we\u2019re so sports-and-khakis. But Dallas does have a fair number of bold-faced names. Host Scott Kirby is the CEO of United Airlines, a kid from <\/b>Rowlett who\u2019s done well for himself. The two-story structure I mistook for the Kirbys\u2019 home is actually a back house; they live on Strait Lane. This two-acre property, normally used for basketball and soccer, is technically their backyard.<\/p>\n

\"Guests<\/p>\n

Guests mingle during the amfAR Foundation for AIDS research gala at the home of Kathleen and Scott Kirby in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u2018Who shot J.R.?\u2019<\/p>\n

The red carpet started at 6:30 p.m., and it was a long parade of people I\u2019d never seen, people who might have been social media influencers, or might have been rich, or might have been none of these, just well-heeled attendees. <\/p>\n

Teri Hatcher was our first celebrity, wearing a snug navy gown with crystals dripping down the shoulders. She smiled, she smoldered, as the cameras clicked. Then came Charlotte Jones, whose family was receiving a philanthropy leadership award, though her famous father, Cowboys owner Jerry, was nowhere in sight. <\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Jones (second from right) navigates the red carpet along with members of her family at an amfAR event in Preston Hollow on Oct. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Red carpet interviews might be the most awkward celebrity interactions possible; I\u2019d have better luck ambushing these folks in line at Trader Joe\u2019s. My stunt was to pull them aside and ask two questions: What\u2019s your favorite Taylor Sheridan show, and (an oldie but a goodie) who shot J.R.? <\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, do I have to list one?\u201d said Charlotte, when I asked about Sheridan. She was poised in a way her husband, AT&T senior vice president Amir Rozwadowski, seemed to enjoy watching from afar. \u201cMaybe Landman, because I know someone who did a cameo on that, and he was pretty good.\u201d Indeed, her father Jerry\u2019s monologue<\/a> last season was so gripping I had to wonder if he\u2019d missed his calling as an actor. <\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People from Weatherford didn’t used to look like this: “Landman” auteur Taylor Sheridan and his wife, Nicole Muirbrook, at an amfAR event in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Taylor Sheridan came next, scowling like a prizefighter as he posed with his wife, though he whisked off before I could ask his favorite Taylor Sheridan show, and I was bummed, since he was probably the only one who might know who shot J.R.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta go with the original, Yellowstone,\u201d said Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks coach, as he stood with his wife, Porschla, who looked every inch a former model in her sleek chin-length bob and silvery gray gown. \u201cHe\u2019s as good as they come,\u201d he said of Sheridan. <\/p>\n

Kidd wasn\u2019t sure who shot J.R., though he took the question seriously. \u201c\u200b\u200bHad to be someone in the family,\u201d he said, as though solving a riddle that hadn\u2019t been revealed 45 years ago. When I told him it was Kristin, J.R.\u2019s mistress, his eyes went wide. \u201cIs that considered family?\u201d We agreed it was close enough. <\/p>\n

Dirk Nowitzki\u2019s quickest interview ever\"From<\/p>\n

From left: Dirk Nowitzki, his wife, Jessica Olsson, Jason Kidd, his wife, Porschla.<\/p>\n

Ryan Emberley \/ courtesy amFAR<\/p>\n

Night had fallen by the time Dirk Nowitzki appeared, and camera flashes crackled like a lightning storm. When I tugged him aside, I felt like a child staring up at a giant oak. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever interviewed anyone so tall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta pass,\u201d he said on the question about Sheridan\u2019s best show, which did not bode well for my second question. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna nail this,\u201d I told him, and he nodded, game face on. \u201cWho shot J.R.?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth pointing out that the man who transformed the Dallas Mavericks was born in 1978, the year Dallas hit the airwaves. He grew up in W\u00fcrzburg, Germany, so yeah, DraftKings would not be taking this bet. <\/p>\n

\u201cPass twice,\u201d he said, and his face cracked open into a big goofy grin. \u201cThat was the quickest interview I\u2019ve ever done!\u201d <\/p>\n

Open your hearts, then your wallets<\/p>\n

The bar was busy for the cocktail hour. Bartenders slung skinny margaritas and martinis, as servers wandered the elevated stage with tiny bites of salmon and smoky blue cheese with fig. DJ RomiQ looked like a glam alien, rocking out to her beats with a sparkly mesh net over her face.<\/p>\n

\"DJ<\/p>\n

DJ RomiQ keeps the music going during cocktail hour at an amfAR event in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

It was 8 p.m. when the crowd of 400 got corralled toward a big tent for dinner, though \u201ctent\u201d feels like an undersell, since it was enormous and lit by red neon with a stage framed by silver disco panels. The Bee Gees\u2019 \u201cMore Than a Woman\u201d was playing as I took my seat beside a woman from Aspen who had to read the menu to me, because the font was so tiny and the lights were so low. <\/p>\n

\u201cRoasted baby cauliflower salad with butternut squash and pomegranate and dates,\u201d she summarized. It was good!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A crowd of approximately 400 people at dinner at an outdoor tent decked out by Todd Fiscus’ company, Todd Events.<\/p>\n

Ryan Emberley \/ courtesy amFAR<\/p>\n

The seated portion of a gala is nothing to write home about, though I\u2019ll mention a few data points. Dallas has raised $65 million for amfAR, which has awarded grants to 3,800 teams of researchers. There are 20,000 people in North Texas living with HIV, a number that will grow by a thousand in a year, so while AIDS is no longer the death sentence it seemed 40 years ago, it\u2019s a serious challenge. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have opened your hearts,\u201d Teri Hatcher told us, launching the show from the podium, \u201cand now it will be time to open your wallets.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Teri<\/p>\n

Teri Hatcher, host.<\/p>\n

Ryan Emberley \/ courtesy amFAR<\/p>\n

Let me fast-forward: Dirk took the stage, leaning low to reach the microphone. He gave an award to the Jones family, whose philanthropy includes the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Hope Lodge at Baylor hospital, providing housing for people getting cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love you, Dirk!\u201d yelled someone in the audience, as a video launched. A third-generation string of young women accepted the award, looking like a sorority. Jessica Donnell, daughter of Jerry\u2019s eldest, Stephen, gave a speech as her uncle Jerry Jr. and aunt Charlotte looked on from their table near the front of the stage.<\/p>\n

Next came the auction, run by a dashing Brit named Michael Macaulay, formerly of Sotheby\u2019s. Three nights in a private villa on the Mexican Caribbean, sold for $40K. A contemporary painting by Karen Gunderson, sold for $35K. A cowboy on horseback chasing a plane by fine-art photographer David Yarrow, sold for $65K.<\/p>\n

The gala paused for the main course, as well-choreographed servers in chef\u2019s whites ferried plates to 400 guests. It was sea bass with plump shrimp, calamari and mussels in a lemon-ginger broth. \u201cBold!\u201d said the woman from Aspen, because she planned galas on occasion, and shellfish was a gamble. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s 9 p.m. Do you know where Nicole Kidman is?<\/p>\n

My phone said 9:44 p.m., and Nicole Kidman had yet to show. Maybe she\u2019d do one of those video presentations, where they project her on the big screen and act like ooh, she made an appearance. I\u2019d seen worse.<\/p>\n

I got bored enough to start wandering the property outside, which was fun to examine with nobody around. The DJ booth was like a glittering disco ball, shimmering under a gibbous moon, and I was recording this on my phone when I heard an announcer say a familiar name. Oh, no. She\u2019s actually here? <\/p>\n

I scrambled toward the tent with the other stragglers, as the Aussie\u2019s smooth voice drifted over the sound speaker. I burst into the tent to find half the audience recording on their phones, as Kidman stood, elegant and seeming a bit shy, at the podium in a simple black gown.<\/p>\n

\"Taylor<\/p>\n

Taylor Sheridan, left, with Nicole Kidman<\/p>\n

Ryan Emberley \/ courtesy amFAR<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what Taylor recognizes, as we all do, is that we are all more alike than we are different,\u201d she said, reading from a piece of paper in her hand, \u201cand that we\u2019re better when we look out for each other.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kidman is one of the biggest names in Special Ops: Lioness, a Sheridan show about female undercover CIA agents. The show also stars Zoe Saldana and Morgan Freeman, so whatever you think of Sheridan, he gets A-list talent. Harrison Ford, Billy Bob Thornton, Helen Mirren, Sylvester Stallone. <\/p>\n

Sheridan was getting an award for inspiration, and he took the stage, leaning casually against the podium as he spoke without a script. \u201cI never intentionally sought out to make a difference,\u201d he said, in a gravelly voice that sounded like it\u2019s seen a million cigars. \u201cI\u2019m a storyteller at the end of the day. I\u2019m pretty shocked I\u2019m not in jail,\u201d he said, to laughter.<\/p>\n

Sheridan went to Fort Worth\u2019s Paschal High School and ditched college before heading to the coastal cities to make it big. He came back, though, and lives with his wife in Weatherford<\/a>. He\u2019s built an unlikely TV empire in North Texas, a place that hasn\u2019t seen this much razzle dazzle since the days of Dallas, a soap opera written by LA scribes who probably should have set the series in Houston, but Sheridan is of this place. When wildfires tore through the Panhandle last year, he raised $1.5 million for relief.<\/p>\n

He wrapped up like the optimistic cowboy he is. \u201cHopefully one day HIV will be eradicated, and amfAR has to change its name and find another disease to go attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hurtado<\/a>Dallas barbecue pitmaster will be on Season 2 of \u2018Landman\u2019 <\/a><\/p>\n

Is making a TV show harder than making Texas barbecue? Both involve long, hot days, said the owner of Hurtado Barbecue.<\/p>\n

\"Guy<\/a>\u2018Landman\u2019 drops new trailer with debut of Season 2 around the corner<\/a><\/p>\n

The West Texas oil drama, created by Taylor Sheridan, returns to Paramount+ on Nov. 16.<\/p>\n

The kid from Cowtown gets the mic again<\/p>\n

Sheridan took his seat to a standing ovation, but he wasn\u2019t done. The second part of the auction got cranking, and the British auctioneer roped Sheridan into helping sell an item not listed in the program: a visit to the set of Landman. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re giving the kid from Cowtown the microphone again?\u201d Sheridan joked, standing up at the head of his long table. \u201cAfter the speech, I started drinking.\u201d <\/p>\n

He looked more at home in the crowd than onstage, playfully imitating the dibbety-dabbety rodeo auctioneer\u2019s voice, and I was reminded this kid from Cowtown wanted to be an actor. It was only through frustration that he started writing scripts, including Hell or High Water, one of the great modern Westerns. Hollywood is littered with sad stories, but his is inspirational: not finding your place, so creating your own.<\/p>\n

The bid for the Landman visit was creeping up, from $300,000 to $350,000. Pretty young adults with red lasers raised their light with each new bid. Sheridan kept sweetening the pot. How about dinner at Cattlemen\u2019s<\/a>, his Fort Worth steak house, with Billy Bob and the cast? OK, what if he threw in a dinner with the cast of Lioness?<\/p>\n

Two parties were bidding against each other when Sheridan made a final offer: $500K from each, and he\u2019d give it to them both. Sold! Another standing ovation, and by the end of the night, amfAR raised $3.1 million. <\/p>\n

\u2018Stop in the Name of Love\u2019<\/p>\n

The evening\u2019s finale was a live set by Diana Ross, who took the stage to her disco anthem \u201cI\u2019m Coming Out.\u201d Ross is 81, and this might have been the shortest performance I\u2019ve ever seen, but who could blame her? <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The diva is 81 years old. Can you blame her for a short performance?<\/p>\n

Sarah Hepola<\/p>\n

The diva sauntered on stage in drapey silver lame with chandelier earrings, dark curls in a wind-blown spray. Was she lip-syncing? Did anyone care? The audience was on its feet and singing along to (somewhat condensed) Supremes classics like \u201cYou Can\u2019t Hurry Love\u201d and \u201cCome See About Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had to push through the throng to film on my iPhone, ducking around cowboy hats and tall men, so by the time I was close enough to get a view, I was unexpectedly standing next to Sheridan\u2019s wife, the model and actress Nicole Muirbrook. <\/p>\n

His arm was resting across her shoulders, and then her waist. \u201cStop in the Name of Love\u201d came near the end, and when Ross hit that familiar chorus \u2014 \u201cStop!\u201d \u2014 hands went up all around me, like we\u2019d joined her backing band. Sheridan\u2019s hand stayed on his wife. This guy was too cool to pantomime a pop song, I suppose, though he was not too cool to sway back and forth with her, the two of them looking, for a moment, like another happy couple in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\"Growing<\/a>Hepola: Taylor Davis wanted to be a wrestler, but she became Miss Texas instead<\/a><\/p>\n

As she preps for Miss USA, the Allen-bred beauty queen reveals her WWE obsession and how she learned to love the swimsuit competition.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>Hepola: State Fair babies! Three first-time moms bring new life to an old Texas tradition<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I did was Google, \u2018When is Texas-OU?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n