The Post’s Reliable Source reached Dionne Warwick about the failure that was the American Music Inaugural Balls. We’ve been chronicling it from the beginning, noting the fallout and the prospect of a lawsuit over the balls’ sudden cancellation. We reached out yesterday to the pr firm that was handling the “red carpet” pro bono and they too expressed shock that the ball was canceled saying they too were notified at the last minute.

Warwick ended up at the Purple Ball as a “reporter” for Entertainment Tonight. Reliable Source writes:

“What happened? Warwick, who announced the gala last fall, offered few answers. ‘We had no sponsors, and the expense was horrendously high,’ the singer told us. (She ended up at the Purple Ball as an ‘Entertainment Tonight’ correspondent.)

Who was in charge? ‘I couldn’t begin to tell you,’ she said. Both the hotel and a PR agency ID’d the promoter as Guy Draper. That’s the same name as Warwick’s partner in earlier charitable ventures that raised questions about fiscal management, according to reports by ABC in 1993 and Entertainment Weekly last year. Draper is a former D.C resident and was a city official during Marion Barry’s first mayoral term. Draper’s voice mail was full yesterday; he did not reply to e-mail.”

Warwick should have had more answers. She was the face of these inaugural events. On January 8, she held a press conference to promote her two events. By then, she probably should have known about the sponsorship problems and expenses.