New York, December 5, 2005 – WITNESS, one of our favorite human rights organizations, was the beneficiary of a celebrity-studded gala featuring Angelina Jolie on Monday. WITNESS sends video cameras to trouble spots to document human rights abuses, in order to bring such violations to the world’s attention.

So here in first world New York City, Jolie was cornered by a frenzied pack of paparazzi while attempting to sneak into The Supper Club through 47th Street neighbor Hotel Edison, which has an entrance to the venue. Jolie entered the hotel through the 46th Street side, and hotel guests looked on aghast as fans and photographers swirled through the lobby like a tornado.

At one point, Jolie was pinned to the elevator bank, and held back against the onslaught by three giant security guards. She pleaded, “If you’ll just move back, I’ll pose for you”, and then some photographers pushed back while others pushed forward, making things even worse. Jolie’s publicist was caught in the crowd, and actually went down; Angelina pulled her up by the hand to get her through the door.

Retaining her composure throughout, Jolie went on to give an impassioned speech about atrocities in Sierra Leone, where she visited last Spring with a WITNESS team. And we became downright outraged that Brad Pitt is adopting Angelina’s kids Maddox and Zahara, but he hasn’t put a ring on her finger.