Deepak Chopra and Arianna Huffington Honored at Oceana’s 2009 Partners Award Gala

Gala Annual Los Angeles event took place on November 20

Los Angeles - Friday, November 20th the international ocean conservation group Oceana held its annual Partners Award Gala in Los Angeles honoring Deepak Chopra and Arianna Huffington. Celebrity attendees included: Morgan Freeman, January Jones, Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis, Sasha Alexander, Matthew Morrison, Rachael Harris, Kadee Strickland, Justin Bartha. Eion Bailey, Kelly Lynch, Mitch Glazer, Diane Warren,  Ed Begley Jr., Garry Shandling, Sharon Lawrence, Dave Stewart. Jason Behr, Zuleikha Robinson, Angela Kinsey, Beau Bridges, Elon Musk & Talulah Riley. The main beneficiary of the event was Oceana and the sponsors of the event included La Mer, Toyota and Lexus.


The outside event took place at the home of Keith Addis and Keri Selig. Addis is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oceana and co-founder of Industry Entertainment.  Keri Selig is the founder and President of Intuition Productions. Lawrence Bender presented the award to Deepak Chopra and Ted Danson presented the award to Arianna Huffington.


Dr. Deepak Chopra is the Chairman and co-Founder of Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California and Manhattan, New York. Chopra's Wellness Radio airs weekly on Sirius/XM Stars, Channels 102 and 155, which focuses on the areas - success, love, sexuality and relationships, well being, and spirituality.   A global force in the field of human empowerment, Chopra is known as a prolific author of over fifty-five books with fifteen best sellers on mind-body health, quantum mechanics, spirituality, and peace.   His mission is to connect people, who, through personal and social transformation, aim to build a just, peaceful, and sustainable world and environment, reflecting the unity of all humanity.


Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post and the author of 12 books.  She is also co-host of "Left, Right & Center," public radio's popular political roundtable program.  Widely recognized as a leading voice on environmental and conservation issues, Huffington has been named one of world's most influential people by TIME magazine. Born in Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with a M.A. in Economics.


The event chairs for the evening included Keri Selig & Keith Addis, Heather Thomas & Skip Brittenham, Mary Steenburgen & Ted Danson, Laurie David, David Geffen, Tara & Peter Guber, Cindy & Alan Horn, Kelly & Ron Meyer, Lynn & Sam Waterston.


Last year's Partners Award Gala honored former President Bill Clinton and Sting & Trudie Styler. Other past Partners Award Gala Honorees include Pierce Brosnan, James Cameron, Stephen McPherson, Brian Grazer & Ron Howard, Ted Danson, Senator Hillary Clinton, Christopher Reeve, Sam Waterston, Sir John Browne, Don Henley, Cindy and Alan Horn, Sylvia Earle, Michael King, Ted Turner, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Dr. Daniel Pauly and former Vice President Al Gore.  Presenters in previous years have included Salma Hayek, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ron Meyer and Dustin Hoffman.


The Oceana Partners Award was created to acknowledge cultural and political leaders committed to richer and higher-level discourse and to more rational and effective policy-visionary leaders who wrestle with the most crucial issues facing us all.For event photos, please contact Andrea Collins -323.202.4122 or 818.324.7322 Andrea.Collins@gettyimages.com