Accepting Award With Grace

NEW YORK — Some folks have asked, “Why hasn’t someone already set up an axis of Hollywood canteens as in World War II, where the biggest stars entertain the lowliest military subalterns?” One L.A. publicist from Wolf-Kasteler told me that the general consensus among stars and publicity people is for everyone to stay out of the limelight.

At the end of last week’s gala at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills for the Women of Sheba event, where Debra Messing was receiving an award for humanitarianism, her PR people asked reporters not to talk to the actress. She didn’t want to fail to show for the ceremony but didn’t care to draw unnecessary attention to herself.

The Women of Sheba support the Middle East’s largest healing complex, a flagship of Israel’s health-care system.

In accepting her award, Messing, who stars on NBC’s “Will & Grace,” said, “Never have I been so aware of how fortunate I am to live in a country that holds freedom so highly. If I have achieved anything, it is because of freedom and democracy in the country where I have been raised.”