Williams assails MS org, drug firms

Yakker host honored as Man of Courage

By BILL HIGGINS

It’s not often a fashion show gets followed by a speech like the one Montel Williams gave Friday at the Race to Erase MS dinner.

Tommy Hilfiger’s models had just cleared the runway; emcee Bill Maher had warmed up the crowd in the Century Plaza’s ballroom (the comment about the dramatic AP shot of Elian Gonzalez being "the most famous picture of a Hispanic in the closet since Ricky Martin" got the biggest laugh); event chair Nancy Davis had been introduced by her son, Jason, and the stage was set for honoree Williams to speak.

Williams, who suffers from MS, began by saying: "I didn’t pick MS. It picked me. And I think it picked me because I’ve got a big mouth and I will be yelling from the mountain top about it."

He then launched into an attack on an unidentified MS org that "raised $130 million and only $22 million went to research. Sorry, folks, I’m dying. We have to change the equation."

However he saved his biggest salvos for the unidentified pharmaceutical companies that charge between $1,000 and $1,500 per month for drug treatments and reap billions in profits.

The mood turned lighter after Williams accepted the Man of Courage award and the evening proceeded with a live auction and performances by Bush, 98 Degrees, Wyclef Jean and David Foster.

Among the 1,200 at the fund-raiser that brought in $2.5 million for the Nancy Davis Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis (and will telecast July 8 on VH1) were Irving Azoff, Marvin and Barbara Davis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Krevoy, Ming-Na, Francis Najafy, Brad O’Leary, Lynn Palmer, Sidney Poitier, Fred Rosen, Marq Roswell, John Sykes, Sylvester Stallone and Steve Tisch.