$1 million will buy you a space voyage with Leonardo DiCaprio
Kevin Winter/Getty Images


The annual amfAR auction and Cinema Against Aids gala, held just outside Cannes, has always been extravagant. But this year's event, which took place last night, took charity to a new level. The auction, which benefits AIDS research, included a 2015 space trip with Leonardo DiCaprio, which sold for 700,000 euros.
Plenty of celebrities, including Jessica Chastain, Justin Bieber, and Paris Hilton, attended the event, which raised a record $38 million for charity. Other items sold included a large selection of rare art, such as a 1967 painting of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, as well as pieces by Picasso and Damien Hirst. In addition to the auction, the event also included musical performances by Andrea Bocelli, Robin Thicke, and Lana Del Rey.
"Today is the day we can say we have a cure for pediatric AIDS," announced Sharon Stone, who has worked with amfAR for 20 years. "We are in the beginning of the end." Stone also predicted that an HIV vaccine will exist by 2020.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US