Inside Chanel’s Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner as Robert De Niro Honored Jane Rosenthal (and Guests Were Glued to…

Chanel hosted a fashionable crowd Monday night in New York for its 19th annual Tribeca Festival artists dinner with plenty of reasons to raise a glass. But unfortunately for all the Knicks fans in attendance, a game three NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs across town at Madison Square Garden was not one of them.

The luxury fashion house, a longtime supporter of cinema as well and Tribeca Festival, welcomed A-listers (many of whom were clad in Chanel) to celebrate the milestone 25th anniversary of Tribeca Festival and catch a surprise toast from Robert De Niro as he praised “perfect leader” and longtime production company partner Jane Rosenthal.

“I really didn’t need her for that first one,” De Niro explained. “I could have done it by myself, of course … but one thing is certain: If Jane Rosenthal hadn’t run the first Tribeca Festival, there would never have been a second or a third or fourth or this 25th.” The iconic actor said Rosenthal is that “rare visionary who turns visions into reality,” adding, “We tease that she’s my work wife, except there’s no messy prenup.”

On that note, De Niro said that the two share a “strikingly non-confrontational relationship” and they almost never disagree. “Jane is a tough business leader, but she’s also a patron of the arts. It comes so naturally to her because she appreciates what artists do. Jane understands the soul of the artist because she has the soul of an artist,” he said during the brief tribute, which also included video messages from notable friends like Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, Kathryn Bigelow, Spike Lee, Lesli Linka Glatter and Darren Aronofsky.

Lee, of course, sent in a video message because there was no way he would’ve missed the action at Madison Square Garden watching his beloved Knicks hit the court for their first showing in New York for the NBA Finals after two games in San Antonio. The city was abuzz with Finals fever, and so was the Chanel dinner. Guests like Molly Gordon donned Knicks leather jackets while others showed their fandom with baseball hats or by staying glued to their smartphones for real-time updates from the game, only to see the Spurs triumph 115-111.

Back to the arts. For more than 20 years, Tribeca Festival and Chanel have linked to bridge the gap between fine art and cinema by presenting original works from artists to Tribeca Festival award-winning filmmakers. This year’s program, curated by Zoe Lukov, included a roster of participating artists of Bony Ramirez, Brendan Fernandes, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Jason Bard Yarmosky, Joshua Woods, Kiki Smith, Soull and Dynasty Ogun, Tavares Strachan and Tosh Basco.

See below for views inside the party and who was on the scene, a list that also included Whitney Peak, Olivia Munn, Camila Morrone, Cole Bennett, Arianna Huffington, A.V. Rockwell, Craig McDean, Crystal McCrary McGuire, Janicza Bravo, Jeff Koons, Kara Young, Karen Elson, Lux Pascal, Natalie Massenet, Scott Galloway, Vanessa Traina, Charles de Viel Castel, Paloma Elsesser and more.