Aerosmith and 50 Cent headline a $10 million bar mitzvah
For seasoned showbiz veterans Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmithmiddle-aged men long past worrying over their perceived legitimacy the offer of a 2 million appearance fee for a 45-minute performance at a private event in New York City must have been a true no-brainer.For Curtis James Jackson III on the other hand there were likelycompeting impulses.Jacksonbetter known as the rapper 50 Centhad built his professional persona on the image of a street-hardened former criminal who was tough enough to survive being shot nine times at point-blank range in 2001.
So there were legitimate concerns that his image might take a hit if word leaked out about the event in question.Ultimately however Mr.Jackson made the decision that the title of his multi-platinum 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin suggested he might In exchange for a multimillion-dollar fee 50 Cent took to the stage at New York Citys famous Rainbow Room in the early morning hours of this day in 2005 joining Tyler and Perry as headline performers at the 10 million bat mitzvah of Long Island 13-year-old Elizabeth BrooksAccording to the ensuing coverage of the event in the New York Daily News guests at the Brooks bat mitzvah began their celebration unaware of what lay ahead.
When a soprano-sax player who looked suspiciously like Kenny G turned out in fact to be Kenny G the bizarrely star-studded event was only getting started.In the hours preceding the appearances of Aerosmith and 50 Cent former A-list stars Don Henley Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty all graced the stage at the Rainbow Room entertaining guests who had been given gift bags containing upwards of 1000 in personal electronics including digital cameras that 50 Cents bodyguard reportedly tried and failed to stop guests from using to snap keepsake photos of the event.Within days however those photos had appeared on numerous Internet blogs along with thousands of snarky comments about 50 Cents questionable gangsta credibility. The father who spent 10 million celebrating his daughters coming-of-age was defense contractor David H.
Brooks CEO of DHB Industries a Long Island company that manufactured body armor for the United States military.Two years after the lavish event Brooks was served with a 71-page federal indictment featuring charges of insider trading tax evasion and raiding his companys coffers for personal gainincluding for the 10 million he used to pay for his daughters lavish bat mitzvah
