Charity ball season recently concluded, and as it turns out, they are a complete scam: did we know that practically none of the big names pay to attend these big-ticket events? Former Gawker Joshua Stein and his rented tux infiltrated the world of charity balls in the latest Page Six mag (which is not online, but certain clever writers scan their articles!)

In large type on the invitation, you find the names of chairs and co-chairs, those boldface attendants who, often in lieu of paying, draw into involvement the names below them. Those include the honorary chairs, dance chairs, benefit committee members and underwriters.

"It's basically a pyramid scheme," says the 25-year-old event planner Martin Dawson.

So we guess that socialites Amanda Hearst, Claire Bernard, and Fabiola Beracasa—the chairs of the American Museum of History Winter Dance—didn't pay. Neither did "society husband" Euan Rellie. Mary-Kate Olsen and her artsy boyfriend probably didn't, either—and she's practically a billionaire.

But that's OK, apparently. Charity balls aren't meant to raise funds from the event itself, really. They're more like advertising: they "raise an institution's profile and give them a list of 700 names they can get donations from throughout the year." Or as Stein puts it, "like reverse mullets: party up front, business in the back." Everything's PR, people.

Meet the Free Ballers [Page Six Magazine]

[Photo: Karin Kohlberg]