Searching for Oprah in Denver

The southeast end of the 16th Street Mall is completely chock-a-block with gawkers hoping to catch a glimpse of some people from the television who are at the African American Heritage Brunch in Earl’s Restaurant.

Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Anne Hathaway Matthew Modine, Tim Daly and Josh Lucas eventually wandered out to cheers from the masses. The hot rumor buzzing through the crowd was that Oprah Winfrey was inside attending the Creative Coalition event, which commemorated the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Meanwhile, the mass of humanity clogging up the busy pedestrian thoroughfare gummed up an entire city block. People not obsessed with looking at famous people couldn’t get past very easily and neither could the free 16th Street shuttle bus that absolutely everyone here uses to get around.

One disgruntled guy pushing through the crowd lost his patience with the celebrity-fixated crowd and shouted, “Stupid people: move out of the way! You’re blocking the shuttle!”

–Jeffrey Young