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*While Hollywood elite were busy supporting Barack Obama at a fundraiser held in downtown Los Angeles at the Dorothey Chandler Pavillion, another very different show of support for the presidential candidate was taking place about a mile away at the Shrine Auditorium.
"If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America," Sean "Diddy" Combs told the Shrine crowd Tuesday at the 2008 BET Awards.
His sentiment was echoed by artists who championed the senator in t-shirts bearing his name (Kim Whitley), acceptance speeches (Alicia Keys) and even during performances (a video screen behind gospel Marvin Sapp flashed Obama and his wife, Michelle, sparking increased applause.)
As she picked up her award for best female R&B artist, Keys told the crowd that it's time for black people to erase the word "can't" from their vocabulary. "Together we can do anything," she said, playing on the Democrat's "Yes We Can" mantra before shouting: "Obama y'all!"
Diddy took his moment at the podium to chant "Obama or Die" — a play on his neutral "Vote or Die" motto from the 2004 presidential election.
There was also support for Obama's campaign backstage. Rapper David Banner told reporters: "For the first time in history, we have the opportunity for somebody who's not in the good ol' boy network to get into office. People talk about his lack of experience, but there's people with much more experience who haven't done such a good job."
Backstage, Humanitarian Award winner Quincy Jones said he wanted Obama to create a Secretary of Culture position if his White House run is successful. Actress Nia Long, meanwhile, gave props to would-be first lady Michelle Obama.
"Michelle is graceful, beautiful and not afraid to be exactly who she is," Long said backstage. "It's wonderful to see their love in the midst of all the political madness. They have something we should all be proud of. She's smart. She's educated. And she's fearless. I'd love to have tea with her one day."
BET's annual event started off with host D.L. Hughley poking fun at the Illinois senator, stating "He's like a tall Urkel dude."
"He does look like the dude from 'Mad' magazine. But for the first black president, I'll take him," said Hughley. "Like, how bad a president is George Bush, when the country goes, 'You know, we'll try the black guy?'"
Stephen Hill, executive vice president of entertainment and music programming at BET, said there was talk of having Obama attend the BET Awards but it didn't work out. "We would've loved it if he would've stopped by," said Hill.
Meanwhile, as said above, Obama did appear up the road at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles for a fundraiser that featured supermodels Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington and John Malkovich.
Don Cheadle and Dennis Quaid addressed the crowd, and Klum's husband Seal performed while accompanied on piano by producer David Foster. Others in the star-studded audience included Leonard Nimoy, will.i.am, Lisa Ling, Zooey Deschanel, indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, producer Lawrence Bender, studio honcho Sherry Lansing and what one rally-goer described to E! Online as "the entire Kennedy clan."
Obama at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
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