Joss Whedon’s dinner for charity (which we announced on 28 June) was a big success. The auction was sponsored by Dark Horse, eBay, and Auction Cause, and offered five spots at a dinner table with Joss Whedon. “The ten-day auction proved to be a fierce bidding battle. The winners each paid up to $11,000 in the end. At a final count of the dinner plus auctions for signed Buffy lithographs and customized watches, the total amounted to $61,716,” according to Dark Horse.
All the proceeds from these auctions will benefit Equality Now, an organization founded in 1992 to work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world.
Remarking on the results before the dinner, Whedon said “I’m more or less overwhelmed. The generosity of the bidders—all of them—is greater than I could have expected. Equality Now needs this money for its vital work and I’m thrilled at the amount this event has raised. Thrilled and galvanized: I promise to make this dinner truly memorable. I swear not to nod off (more than twice), not to try to ‘borrow’ the guests’ wallets or set the waiters ‘on fire,’ and to learn gooder English conversating. My grateful thanks to Dark Horse, to MySpace, eBay, and Auction Cause—and mad props to the man behind the curtain, Mike Boretz—for making this run so smoothly. And to all the bidders, five of whom are in for a treat—or a least an appetizer.”
Whedon is, among other things, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.