Drake hosted his third annual Strong Women, Stronger Drinks event at Casa Loma recently, handing out over $1 million in cash and luxury cars to attendees, including a $50,000 surprise for one of his former Degrassi co-stars!
The private, invite-only event brought together Canadian women doing big things across business, media and content creation, all for an evening dedicated to celebrating and connecting women in their respective fields (among the notable names in attendance was Toronto native Shan Boodram).
The evening started off right, with each guest receiving a welcome gift of $1,000 in cash. But then the rapper upped the ante, gifting 10 guests $50,000 each, including his former Degrassi co-star Andrea Lewis. The GTA-based actress is known for playing Hazel Aden, the on-screen girlfriend of Jimmy Brooks (played by Drake) in the long-running TV series.
“My TV boyfriend stays blessing me!” she wrote in an Instagram post, later adding that she plans to reinvest the money in her creative projects.
“We’ve seen each other grow up and I feel very lucky to have a friend like him and that no matter where we are in the world or our personal journeys we always manage to stay connected.”
Six other women reportedly received $100,000 each, but apparently, cash wasn’t the only thing up for grabs! Designer Birkin bags and luxury cars were also handed out throughout the evening, including G-Wagons and BMWs, according to TMZ. Some of the cars came Insta-ready with giant bows, because, you know, regular door prizes simply weren’t going to cut it.
Drake said that Strong Women, Stronger Drinks was inspired by a women’s networking event he attended around 2007 or 2008, and the now-annual Toronto gathering is intended to bring accomplished women together to socialize, network and learn from one another.
“It was essentially women gathering to network, to socialize and to be a man at the event, you had to work,” he said at last Tuesday’s event. “I always loved that aspect of it. We would show up and work the event because that’s what the event was about.”
