"Oh, I'm not talking about politics tonight!" she said, frowning faintly and shaking her blonde, well-coiffed head. Instead, she discussed her friendship with Ms. King—"We're always getting or giving each other awards"—who was just then milling about with Monica Seles and the first female president of the United States Tennis Association, Jane Brown Grimes.

"I watched the Bobby Riggs match," Ms. Walters said, referring to the supremely-hyped 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition that Ms. King is best remembered for. She defeated and humbled Riggs, a former Wimbledon star-turned-hustler: he claimed the men's game was vastly superior to the women's. But this year, people don't seem to care very much about the women athletes either. How depressing!

Ms. Walters didn't think so. "That was an enormous occasion for women, and it changed women's tennis for all time," she said of the tournament. The View doyenne went on to mention that she feels this is the talk-show's best year yet. "We're all very happy. We've had the political candidates on in the past, and we're going to have them again."

Really? The ladies didn't give a particularly blissed-out impression during the September 2 kick-off of their 12th season. In fact, they seemed pretty fed-up with each other, even after a vacation! Doesn't it get extra-stressful at that varnished "Hot Topic" table, particularly during election season?

"It's not stressful... It's wonderful to be able to get on and argue about all the different candidates. I have to be a little careful, because I try to be somewhat impartial," she said. "But everybody else on the program has very strong opinions, and that makes it fun."

Inside the elegantly lit Bowery Savings building, dozens of guests circulated around the tables of charity auction items, including a private Andre Agassi hit session in Las Vegas that sold for $16,000. We found Ms. King calmly applying a last coat of lipstick in a small room off the edge of the ballroom, just before the presentation of her award. Given her blazing career of 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles tennis titles and her own life-long fight for equal rights both in and outside of the tennis court, we wondered: What was her take on the media's treatment of Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin?

"Now we're back to the experience. Remember how they were talking about how the experience for Hillary wasn't necessary? Do you notice how they're talking about experience again? I'm just cracking up. I'm just like, whatever!" Ms. King said. "I think Palin's great. I think she's awesome. I think she's honest, I think she's real."

But would the Governor of Alaska have been so quick to release public statements about her family if her daughter Bristol was revealed to be gay, instead of pregnant? "That was one question I had in my mind," said Ms. King, who was first prominent professional female athlete to come out. "I have no idea. Her, I think she'd embrace the child and then have to start thinking about the issue."

As someone tapped her on the shoulder, Ms. King paused for one last question. We had to know how on earth Regis Philbin managed to win their amusing little Court 13 match, which had aired on Live: With Regis and Kelly that morning. Mr. Philbin seemed to be barely breaking a sweat and, post-win, appeared to fancy himself the next Roger Federer.

"He edited it the way he wanted it!" laughed Ms. King. "You always let the host win. Psychologically. Always. That's what you're supposed to do," she said, nodding confidently as she glided out the door.

UPDATE: On Tuesday, Ms. King issued a statement to 365gay.com affirming her support for Barack Obama. The statement reads:

"It's a show!" sighed Mr. Christiana, when queried about a recent New York magazine article that chronicled the rivalry between Project Runway judge and recent Marie Claire hire Nina Garcia, and Anne Slowey, Fashion News Director at Elle and the Miranda Priestly-esque star of the CW's forthcoming battle-of-the-fashion-assistants Stylista. "I don't take things so seriously when it comes to fashion. We're not curing cancer, we're making clothing."

The designer and FIT grad has been keeping quite the busy schedule since being auf'd for not creating the perfect prom dress. His many upcoming projects include a men's line "for guys that have, like, real bodies," a women's line "for women who have actual curves," and frequent guest slots on the next season of The Rachael Ray Show. Mr. Christiana also mentioned that he and fellow season four alum Jack Mackenroth (the contestant who left the show mid-season after getting a staph infection) are working together on a new series. "It's the odd couple gay-straight thing," said Mr. Christiana. "I can't really talk about it because I'm under contract," he added, although he did tell the Daily Transom it wouldn't be on Bravo's fall line up. Lifetime, perhaps? They lurve their edgy reality TV these days!

Seated next to a pretty brunette a few feet away was Jesse Williams, who plays an art-student-slash-nude-model-hunk in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Earlier, Mr. Williams told the Daily Transom what it's like when your first Hollywood movie is a total estrogen-fest.

"It was outstanding," he said. "Everybody was really sweet." Those bright blue eyes are even brighter in person! But did he catch up on all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls to prepare for his romantic moments with Alexis Bledel? "I watched the first movie several times, and I did watch some Gilmore Girls," Mr. Williams said, sans any telling eye-rolls that might bespeak of his embarrassment. Delighted, we pictured him taking in a Rory-Lorelai marathon at his apartment in Crown Heights.

British rapper Estelle preceded Mr. Williams on the red carpet prior to Traitor's screening. The recording artist is about to leave for a tour with Gym Glass Heroes and the Roots. That doesn't mean she doesn't have time to read blogs, though. In particular, a blog penned by one Kanye West, whose vocals were featured on Estelle's hit "American Boy."

"If you look at the tone of Kanye's blog," she said--waving away the accusations that Mr. West doesn't know a comment from an RSS feed and pays someone to post items for him--"you cannot doubt that it's Kanye. Just--it's Kanye. Please!"

Not long after her, Danity Kane's Aubrey O'Day tottered past in snake-skin boots, black leggings, and a white feathery vest that displayed a rather prominent décolletage. "I don't even use the phrase," Ms. O'Day replied, fluttering her eyelash extensions when we asked how she personally interprets the phrase "bitchassedness," which P. Diddy thrust into the vernacular on the last season of Making the Band. "It's silly!" giggled the singer, who is currently playing Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray on Broadway.

Given her fanciful wardrobe, Ms. O'Day appeared amenable to the idea that she was a kind of teen idol, although Traitor's leading man, Mr. Pearce, had no advice to offer the latest crop of young things--say, High School Musical's Zac Efron?--attempting to make a serious crossover similar to his own. (Mr. Pearce got his break starring in the Australian soap Neighbours. Just like Natalie Imbruglia and Kylie Minogue!) "I'd done a lot of theater growing up, so this TV show was just one of the many things that I've done. Obviously I had to become aware of the fact that it became the most popular show in England and across Europe. That was a bit of a struggle to deal with, in a way," he said.

Now, though, the English-born, Australian-raised actor seems to enjoy defying stereotypes at every turn: He's playing a truth-seeking FBI agent in Traitor, which opens August 27, yet stars in a "quite different" warm-fuzzy Adam Sandler film, Bedtime Stories, out this Christmas. And last night, nobody could stop talking about the horn-rimmed Buddy Holly glasses Mr. Pearce donned for the premiere, which he wore with the casually blasé flair possible only to those who have transcended their heartthrob status. Take that, Rivers Cuomo!

Director and portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders said he developed the idea for the film with former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell at a restaurant in the East Village. "We saw it originally as a film, as a book, and as an exhibition of portraits," said Mr. Greenfield-Sanders. "And it's all of those things now! We've been very fortunate, but I think it's an idea that was dying to happen."

The film's release is indeed timed to a show organized by Houston's Museum of Fine Arts and a coffee-table tome to be published next month. A selection of Greenfield-Saunders' snaps of Sean Combs, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Chris Rock, all of whom appear in the documentary, dotted the perimeter of window-walled room. At 6:30, Alan Cumming, Bill T. Jones, Gayle King, and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar were whisked into the circulating crowd.

After the Daily Transom cornered Mr. Mitchell, he admitted to winging his interviews with each of The Blacklist's luminaries as a way of making their stories as personal as possible. "What I wanted to do was get these people to talk in a way they hadn't talked before," he said, blinking behind his quirky steel-framed specs.

"On the other hand, you have to ask that question, ‘So what's it like to be black in America?'" he added. "Because at this point, I probably know. And they knew, too. This is the kind of communication that came as a result of the film, and also because you're still finding it as you're talking to each person."

The Daily Transom chose not to ask Mr. Mitchell about a criminal complaint filed against him recently that alleged he was trying to smuggle $12,000 in cash back to his home in Detroit from Canada.

Faye Wattleton, co-founder and president for the Center for the Advancement of Women (also: in 1978, youngest Planned Parenthood president ever!), was also in attendance in a tailored white suit. Young people, Ms. Wattleton said, can be easily seduced.

"Sometimes they see the glitter and the exposure, and people think, ‘What a glamorous life!'" Wattleton said. "But then, each of us has had a struggle. And those have been day-to-day and difficult struggles."

Just then, Mitchell bolted over to Wattleton and nearly knocked the Daily Transom over as he swept her into his arms and kissed her cheek. "Pardon me! Do you know how great you are in this movie? You look fantastic!"

Once the tiny tables covered in grass-colored cloth disappeared under constellations of half-empty wine glasses, the party flowed into the screening room. Rev. Al Sharpton stopped to pose for pictures flanked by Wattleton and Greenfield-Saunders. "This is going wonderfully," Sharpton said in a low voice to the director, who nodded seriously. Moments later, the latter blushed as he was re-introduced by Mitchell, just before The Blacklist rolled, as "a huge force in documentary film-but I like to call him White Chocolate Thunder!"