(Bloomberg) -- The whale got off easy at the American Museum of Natural History’s gala Thursday night. Comedian-turned-host John Mulaney wanted to talk about the elephants.

“For one night in New York high society, the elephant in the room will not be Jeffrey Epstein,” Mulaney said. “By the way, the elephant did not commit suicide.”

Laughter is expected at this gala, given that Lorne Michaels helms it and many “Saturday Night Live” cast members come along. But Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon and frequent SNL contributor Alec Baldwin had the night off from writing museum jokes, and deservedly so: mining this week’s news cycle for Saturday’s show is going to be quite enough.

Instead they got Mulaney, who pointed out Michaels had turned him down for SNL, offering him the gala gig instead.

The music slot was filled by the Jonas Brothers, who noted that they had visited the museum as kids while growing up in New Jersey. The event’s proceeds support school trips to the museum.

In the room: John McEnroe, Tom Brokaw, and Brett Heyman who recently opened a Madison Avenue boutique called Flower that sells designer cannabis accessories. Allison Mignone wore an Oscar de la Renta gown to accompany her husband Roberto, and jewels befitting their status as lead funders for renovating the Hall of Gems, set to open next fall. A remake of the Northwest Coast Hall is also underway while a new building is under construction.

Kelly Coffey is settling into her job as CEO of Los Angeles-based City National Bank, but she’s still knows her New York stats.

“Central Park is larger than the country of Monaco,” she said Wednesday at Central Park Conservancy’s Winter Party.

Coffey is a trustee of the conservancy, and her bank, which she said has been “expanding very quickly in New York City,” supported the event.

In terms of guests, Goldman Sachs had a big presence in the tent, decked out as a supper club, with CFO Stephen Scherr and M&A co-head Michael Carr leading the pack.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum

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