Diana Ross turned 65 yesterday - which reminded me of my dealings with "Miss Ross" at the now-closed Motown Cafe here in NYC.
In the mid-1990's, I was in charge of orchestrating the events at the busy 300-seat restaurant on 57th Street. One day in 1996, the P.R. Department instructed me to plan a lunch honoring one of Diana Ross' two young sons - an event that Miss Ross herself would be attending (along with the boys and their private school classmates). Unfortunately I can't remember which of her sons we actually honored, or why he was being honored, because once Miss Ross entered the building it was all about "Miss Ross". Below is a picture of Diana, her late billionaire husband Arne Naess, and the two adorable boys at around the same time...
YES, before the event we were told to address Miss Thang as "Miss Ross". I SO wanted to call her "Diane" like Mary Wilson still does (and Diana HATES), but I needed to keep my J-O-B.
Miss Ross had just performed the Superbowl Half-Time Show (pictured above) that year. And don't you know she made us play the long-ass video of her performance THREE TIMES during her son's event. This wouldn't have been so bad if it had been a truly PRIVATE party - but the event only took up the mezzanine/balcony level of the restaurant. Which meant the regular lunch customers on the main floor had to suffer through that damn video while finishing their burgers and "Mosagna" (seriously). But the regular folks DID get to see a true diva - because Miss Ross made sure to make a GRAND entrance on her way into the restaurant.
In all honesty, Miss Ross was extremely polite. But I got the sense that if things didn't go down exactly like Miss Ross wanted them to go down, there would be big problems. And even though she smiled when she spoke to me (and everyone else) - she was absolutely terrifying.
Like any theme restaurant, Motown Cafe displayed various pieces of memorabilia. One of these items was a Diana Ross doll (kind of like a Barbie, only bitchier). I'll never forget her son (again, no clue which one) bragging to his classmate in front of the display case about how that doll was HIS MOM. Let's face it, there was no way the other kid would ever top that - even though the other kid's dad was probably a billionaire. These boys went to a VERY fancy private school.
By the way, those two "little boys" I threw the party for? Look at them now...
Ross Arne Naess (left) is now 21-years-old, and Evan Ross (right) is a 20-year-old actor who costarred with Terrance Howard in the movie Pride...
