Nicole Kidman bids £83,000 on a hat once worn by pal Hugh Jackman

The star, 55, made the eye-watering bid at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids charity event at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York on Saturday
Nicole Kidman starred alongside her fellow Australian Hugh Jackman in the 2008 film Australia
Getty Images
Lisa McLoughlin 28 November 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Nicole Kidman has splashed out a cool £83,000 on a hat once worn by fellow Aussie actor and friend Hugh Jackman.

The Oscar-winning star, 55, made the eye-watering bid for Jackman’s prop from his musical The Music Man at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids charity event at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York on Saturday.

In a clip from the event which Jackman posted on social media, he and co-star Nicholas Ward asked the audience to beat the top bid of $19,000 (£16,000).

As they upped the bidding ante, Kidman shouted “$100,000 (£83,000)”. She then walked to the stage in a black trouser suit and greeted her stunned friend to rapturous applause.

“Nic! I just want to be clear, this is not Australian dollars,” an astonished Jackman quipped.

Picking up the straw boater, the Hours star gave the 54-year-old a hug and said: “I love you, I love Broadway, and I love what they do at Broadway Cares.”

11474333 Nicole Kidman shocks audiences with surprise visit at Hugh Jackman's musical The Music Man in New York
Kidman picked up the straw boater after her winning bid
Hugh Jackman/Instagram

After the event, Jackman, who starred in the 2008 film Australia with Kidman, said: “I’ve known Nic for almost 30 years.

“I’ve worked with her, I can tell you this is not a surprise. She’s one of the most generous souls I know.

“The generosity and love emanating from Nicole Kidman leaves me speechless. Thank you Nic for your friendship and support.”

Jackman echoed these sentiments on Twitter.

He tweeted: “The generosity emanating from #NicoleKidman leaves me speechless! You ARE amazing.

“Thank you for your friendship and support! @MusicManBway @NicholastheWard @BCEFA”.

And it wasn’t just the Wolverine actor who was left in awe by her kindness, with many of Jackman’s Twitter followers also praising Kidman.

One wrote: “I’ve watched this with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye a dozen times and I still have no idea what organization she is donating the money to!!

“And that doesn’t even matter, her generosity and sincerity are beautiful”.

Another user commented: “I just had to watch this about a dozen times, it's so amazing! Thank you, Nicole, I'm also speechless! I'm crying tears of joy and gratitude. Also, Hugh's face is absolutely priceless.”

A third person added: “What she did is just incredible. Such a generous soul. It's also incredible how much you guys are raising for such an amazing cause. I take my hat off to you all.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in