The celebrities keep opening their hearts and their wallets for Haiti. So far, it’s looking like Gisele Bundchen is the biggest giver, beating out Brad and Angelina’s $1 million donation to Doctors Without Borders. It’s not really a competition, but if competing gets people to donate, good for them. Anyway, Gisele “was so moved, she knew she had to do what she could to help” and she wrote a $1.5 million check to the Red Cross. Madonna, Ben Stiller, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (with $100,000) and Alyssa Milano have also written checks. The weirdest one – by far – was magician David Blaine’s commitment to “perform his street magic for 72 hours non-stop, starting Friday at 9 a.m. in Times Square” to raise money for the Red Cross. Um… thanks? Street magic? 72 hours straight? What the…?
Gisele Bundchen has written a $1.5 million check to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti, which was rocked Tuesday by a 7.0 earthquake that is believed to have killed at least 100,000 people.
The model — who reportedly earned $35 million last year — was prompted to pitch in after seeing the devastation done by this week’s earthquake, according to The Boston Globe.
Other stars who are helping:
Haiti-born Wyclef Jean: He has already raised more than $1 million through his Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.
Madonna: She has pledged $250,000. In a statement, she said told UsMagazine.com: “My prayers are with the people of Haiti. I can’t imagine the terrible pain and suffering they are experiencing. Sadly the depths of the tragedy are just becoming known and the need for our support grows more urgent with every passing moment.”
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: They are donating $1 million to Doctors Without Borders.
Lance Armstrong: His LiveStrong Foundation has pledged $250,000. Money will go to Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health founded by Harvard professor Paul Farmer.
Alyssa Milano: The goodwill ambassador for UNICEF wrote a $50,000 check to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She is asking U.S. corporations to match her donation.
Ben Stiller: He’s raising money for a school in Ceverine in Haiti through Save the Children. He also is asking fans for $10 donations charged to phone bills by texting “Haiti” to 90999.
George Clooney: As Us reported Thursday, he is hosting a telethon Jan. 22 on MTV to raise funds.
David Blaine: The magician, who once shot a TV special in Haiti in 1999, is working with the Red Cross to raise funds for Haitian earthquake victims by performing his street magic for 72 hours non-stop, starting Friday at 9 a.m. in Times Square.
[From Us Weekly]
Yes, the Clooney-led telethon is happening too. It’s confirmed for Friday, January 22 on MTV, VH1, BET, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO, National Geographic and CNN (and CNN International), and Clooney is currently signing up his celebrity friends to appear. Clooney will co-host with Wyclef Jean and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, with Cooper broadcasting from Haiti. In a press release, MTV Networks said “the telethon will feature celebrity appearances and musical performances, with an exact lineup still to be determined, as well as live news reports from CNN. Donations raised during the telethon will benefit the organizations Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Yele Haiti Foundation.” Sounds like a good telethon!
Gisele in NY on May 6, 2009. Credit: Patricia Schlein/WENN.com. George Clooney in NY on January 13, 2010. Credit: L. Gallo/WENN.com
Nice to see so many getting involved in the cause. Every bit of money helps.
Clooney looks nice with grey hair. So glad they are donating.
I’m going to watch these comments closely. After the mayhem in the Brange thread yesterday, and then the defenses for Momsen’s obliviousness this morning… I’m interested to see what people have to say.
I feel like it’s a terrible thing to say, but I’m looking forward to the telethon. As much as you can look forward to a telethon for something so devastating.
Maybe Momsen will learn a little lesson from her peers (w/c I’m not sure I’d go that far, but you know what I mean)
So, Gisele, who made $35M last year gave over $1M and Madonna, who, according to Forbes, made $110M donated $250K?? What’s wrong with this picture? Maybe she gave before Brad/Angelina and didn’t know that $1M was the “cool amount” to give???
My opinion of Gisele just skyrocketed.
Way to step up. It’s great that she’s donating SO much of her own money.
I think Gisele is the highest paid model in the industry right now. I hope Jay-Z and B follow her example, if they haven’t already.
What great news! I love Gisele and Tom and I can’t wait to see the baby. And I agree that Clooney does look good with his salt and pepper hair.
good for her.
Not On Our Watch the charity founded by George, Matt, Don, And Brad has also donated 1 million to Partners in Health
Ok I did the math, and madonna donating 250K on her estimated net worth of 400M is like me donating $6.25 on my (admittedly low) net worth of 10K. It is pathetic!! I make 50K per year and even I can manage to scrape together $100 to donate (which amounts to 15 times what madonna donated) These celebrities and their grand gestures that get so much press but don’t really amount to much are starting to make me sick.
Hey doesn’t matter to me who donates what, as long as the people in Haiti get all the help they need!
I cant believe Madge only donated 250K! WTF!
That’s a very big donation from Gisele. I didn’t realize she made so much money.
David Blaine…really? Dude, no one wants to see that. Just write a check.
Seriously though, is he hoping for donations from people walking by? Because a lot of people, myself included, are very hesitant to donate cash on the street like that these days, too many scammers out there. Ah well, I guess every little bit helps. I’m still really impressed by the amounts they’re getting from everyday people through the text donations and stuff.
Little bitter, cynical old me.
Why does all of this look like a concerted effort made by all these celebrities to look deep, relevant and important?
The same happened with the Tsunami in Thailand and Hurricane Katrina. Everyone rushed to make grand statements, denounce social ills, mention that they had donated money and how much at every opportunity they had, look concerned and participate in glitzy, luxurious events to gather funds for the victims.
Four months later, nobody even mentioned these catastrophes, unless they wanted to keep promoting themselves as “benefactors” (Brad Pitt, anyone?).
You want to do something for the suffering? What about donating more than o.oooooooo1% of your earnings from last year alone, and then doing something more than dress up for public events to promote yourself?
Yeah, it would be the decent thing to do. Too bad most of these people are only concerned with improving their public image.
Pont Neuf, I agree.
I know that there are many celebrities who donate WITHOUT wanting the notariety that goes along with it, but at the same time, it does show their fans/public that they care about something so devastating. With that said, Madge shoulda kept that measly $250K to herself. Lourdes’ clothing allowance is more than that and I think her beard gets at least that to bump uglies with her. Publicity 101: Don’t make mention of your donation, unless it’s worthy of mentioning.
Oh by the way, I donated $5 to 501501 Subject Line: “YELE”…seriously, though.
Fire: Totally agree that Madonna is one of the cheapest donors. Practically everything goes to Kaballah or through Kaballah. Of course she’s making a public statement that she’s made this big donation and encouraging everyone to donate. Well put your money where your mouth is you moron and pony up a few million!!
Can’t agree more Pont Neuf.
I’m still asking why very few celebrities (and common people) are interested in what is happening to the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur and Haiti too, before the earthquake. Not enough publicity from day-to-day tragedies?
Are those z-listed victims?
Do we need to see the corpses to understand that there are places in this world where the emergency is the daily agenda? Do we really need the intervention of those hollyweirds to open our eyes and do something for people who are suffering everyday, every month and every year of their lives?
If the answers to these questions is “yes” we really need to change our mind.
Nice donation from Gisele. Glad to see that celebrities are stepping up to continue donating. I suspect once Madonna sees how much others are donating, she may increase her support.
I’m looking forward to the telethon as well. I don’t watch much MTV, but I’ll be tuning in next week.
Actually I am impressed with how quickly all this has come together. I think people are still disgusted with what happened after Katrina and don’t want to see a repeat performance. I heard one newscaster talking about officials finding youngsters falling asleep amongst dead bodies that were starting to decay in the heat. How horrifying.
different day, same shit
madonna is RAISING MALAWI people, so you cant expect her to have any leftover charity $$. just kidding. george is lobbying pretty hard for his oscar, but who cares if it goes to a good cause.
note to taylor momsen: all these people are WAY bigger celebrities than you and apparently found the time to donate, read and care. twit.
People like Pont Neuf and those who clamour to agree with him/her simply want to justify their own shameful inaction. It is transparent. It is pathetic.
That is why this planet is doomed.
I enjoy this funny blog and Kaiser’s clever writing – but then I read some of the comments and my heart sinks.
Nadia, what the heck are you saying?
Do you really think that criticizing those tw*ts does mean that we are not concerned about those tragedies and that we are not doing the best that we can to help?
Semplicistic reasoning is ruining the world…
Madonna’s $250K is better than nothing, and I do have to wonder about her charity donations as so many of them are tied to her own thing and kaballah. And the only reason I wonder is because she chooses to make them public.
I’m sure whoever gets Madonna’s money will be very grateful and will use it well, but if it were me, if I made the money she does, I would want to donate more, not just in disasters like this but all the time. But sadly, I am not worth $400 million. If only…
well, at least it´s publicity for a good cause, is not like Haiti is not needing it! am so sick and tired of vapid PR stunts making stupid gossip/tabloids headlines!
Even tho nobody talks about Tsunami anymore much has been done with donation money and you just need to get your arse on airplane to see it.
I thought I was the only one who thought Madonna was a cheapass. If Alysa Milano is donating $50K, there is no excuse for Madonna to give $250K…and then making a big announcement about it as if she is performing miracles.
Maybe Madge doesn’t have any $ left after her alimony payments to Guy?
How is David Blaine performing street magic going to help the Haitians? Does he have corporate sponsors or is he going to send them the change he collects in a hat?
Brenda you beat me to it!!! i was thinking the same exact thing – if friggin Alyssa Milano can donate $50,000, it’s pretty ridiculous Madonna only gave $250,000.
i think with these charities its sort of like, Go Big or Go Home! when the amounts get publisized and everybody hears about it, if you don’t donate a sizeable amount you are going to get talked about just as badly as if you didn’t give at all! i think donating to Doctors without Borders is a really great idea, obviously right now they are concentrating on Haiti but they take their services to so many places that we never even hear about and their services are DESPERATLY needed. same with the Red Cross, who also help people here in our own country that need aid also.
Madonna just looks cheap. She has more money than all the rest put together.
How come no hatred for Gisele? Is that only reserved for The Brange?
I am so Happy, I am so delighted Gisele donated more than Brad and his side kick.
That makes me sooo Happy.
I heard Tiger donated 3million…but who knows.
Don’t hate me ppl.
Please don’t judge people for the amounts they give compared to their net worth. Many celebrities give money and time anonymously to a variety of causes. The important thing is the gift. The Haitian people are desperately poor. Every penny counts. Besides, maybe Madonna will perform on the telethon next week. That’s worth a lot!
@Jen
Gisele didn’t release a statement as though we were waiting with bated breath to hear what they had to say. As though the suffering of others should correlate towards the Brange’s sadness.
She wrote a check out of the goodness of her heart and left it at that.
Ps,
People rag on the shadiness of Madonna’s “charities” but how come no one is looking into the shadiness of Wyclef’s foundation? They haven’t filed a tax return since the year 2000 and an insider that worked for the charity told the Post that where the money actually goes is a mystery. It’s actually very shady.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/item_y43oeZmkxYKO7HUKTbwycP/0#ixzz0cWBfu9Xu
Charity is a sport for rich people they love to talk about it . Those people could give a damned about anything but thier image . Ronnie James dio has given to charity without it even hitting the papers . Keanu reeves has given so much to charity it would make your head spin ! George Lucas too ! You don’t see them mugging for the cameras with thier fake smiles ! If they cared so much why all the publicity ? People do care all over the world ! We don’t need George Clooney to tell us to help
Thanks Jessie, i agree with you…this is why i don’t like people announcing that they gave…give it and move on..no need for press realeases and statements
A lot of people always seem to be cynical when it comes to celebrities donating to charity. Fine, if that’s how you want to feel, but it is very sad.
George Clooney, along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle formed a foundation and have donated MILLIONS to Darfur (and now, a million to Haiti); Angelina has built not only a school and a hospital in Ethopia, but also roads to those facilities so people can get to them; she also has built a hospital and orphanage in Cambodia. Brad and Angelina were helping Wyclef Jean in Haiti for years before this disaster; Brad has been working in New Orleans since Katrina, actually building houses (he has built more houses than the U.S. government there); Madonna has a school and hospital in Malawi; Gisele donates millions for the poor street children in her country of Brazil. What else do you want these people to do to prove to you that what they do is from the heart? Whatever tax benefit they get from donating this money is irrelevant because they don’t get the entire amount back. Donating is not a good way to “invest” because, if it was then every celebrity would donate millions. They don’t!! Also, there are better ways to get publicity than this. Do you really think Brad and Angelina will become more famous than they already are by donating a million to “Doctors Without Borders”? Of course not, especially since they give this charity a million a year anyway.
People like Pont Neuf and those who agree with him/her should just shut up and admire what these celebrities are doing for a country that sorely needs their help. They draw attention to this terrible tragedy and ordinary people see it and they donate money. In my book, that’s a win-win situation!!
Kitten, honey, if Keanu and George Lucas give to charity and “nobody knows” how do you know??
Jen I think it’s obvious that for some people on this site and others do not matter if a person enters the United Nations as ambassador and is doing this job for over 10 YEARS, or donate to different charities for years or that the VOLUNTEER work that many people do to the UN was being CELEBRITIES is to use their image that is RECOGNIZED AROUND THE WORLD by fans and people who do not like these celebrities for countless reasons is to STOP AND PAY ATTENTIONto the ENTITY they are visiting or donating money, time and associating their image.
It does not matter to these people that the media is only interested in these celebrities and not in the entity they try to help with their image or donating and that will be reported every thing they do were and what they are doing in certain places and were they spend the huge quotidian of money they receive making films to entertain us. This way the media generate warm discussions of anonymous from around the world and earn more money.
The money that celebrits earn may be exaggerated but if there is always someone willing to pay more money so… then HATE THE GAME NOT THE PLAYER. If many of you who think that is wrong the amount of money that actors and actresses win why not instead of hating them and what they do or giving with their money u all START to HATE the OWNERS of STUDIOS who are who decide how much each actor / actress IS WORTH for then spent their money because the return will be bigger and better. STOP TO HATE THE WRONG PEOPLE.
Jen hope that answers your question sorry my English is not my first language and Nadia i agree with you
Laura, Brad and Angelina’s statement just said they were sad about Haiti and they were going to help. It wasn’t any different than a lot of other celebrity statements. People really are over the top with their hatred of Brad and Angelina. Madonna’s donation does seem low but she has other charities that may be making donations.
@ lena: Those press releases and statements you don’t like serve a real purpose in that they often inspire other people to do likewise.
It’s called using your fame and celebrity status for a good cause, and I for one don’t see a thing wrong with that.
I guess if I was a Hatian in Haiti I wouldn’t care if Madonna gave only $250k. That’s more than what the government in that country probably has contribute to the relief so I guess something is better than nothing
Just like the rest of us here, we give what we can if we can and she has doanted a lot in Malawi even before she adopted
So how come no one is saying anything about Beyonce? didnt she make a lot of money last year and wasnt she the one that goes around getting fake nails worth thousands? ugh!Im right with you LizzieB
Sqandra Bullock announced she gave a million to Doctors w/o Borders after Brad and Angie’s announcement. She also announced she gave 1 million to Red Cross after tsunamie(sp). I guess she is attention whore too huh. She also is always talking about the school she supports in NOLA.All done for PR and tax write offs right critics. At least Brad and Angie donations came from their charitable foundation so they can’t wrte it off on their personal taxes.And yes Laura , Sandy released a statement just like Brad and Angie 2 days after them
Jen, I don’t know them personally, I’ve never met them, therefore I can’t hate them and probably my overall opinions about them may be wrong, I don’t think that I own the truth.
But I simply don’t get this “celebrities as saviours” hype, really.
I simply find quite disturbing all the attention they get just because they give to charity part of the money they earn as if it is such a complicated thing to do, while common people do it light-hearted and there is no one who praises them for their good deeds, and there’s no statement in no magazine or newspapers that announces their donation, and above all for common people often a donation of just 50$ can be hard to afford.
Of course those millions donated are for a good cause and I appreciate it but these hollyweirds earn in one month what most of us probably won’t earn in an entire life and for them is not such a problem to donate millions.
And as entertainers I think that they should get attention just for their art.
The ones who need our attention and help about issues like Haiti’s are the people who every day fight against poverty and war (Doctors without borders, Red cross, Emergency, etc etc).
You said that is the system that let them earn that huge amount of money, but we are part of that system and we can choose to change the rules, maybe putting those celebrities in the right perspective, destroying the pedestals we put them in. They are no gods to bow before.
You chose to believe in those celebrities, I chose not and I can’t be blame for it as you can’t be blame for doing the contrary.
So just respect and understand others’ opinions.
Good point and I totally agree, Beth!
oops… I was referring to Mimi (and Essie) comment(s), not Jen’s.
Forgive me, I’m at home and I have the flu, my mind blurry, and I’m bored.
Not a nice saturday.
I think that by telling public about donations – famous people encourage others to do the same. Their “famous friends” don’t want to stay behind .Some of them are very generous and some are less – how generous were You?
How generous were you Meg?
There are plenty of newspapers that give us some info about the donations and how to donate.
Frankly I don’t need George Clooney’s encouragement to notice that there’s an emergency and that my help is needed.
Solveig, I donated $20, this is all what I could do at this time. Maybe you don’t have to be encourage but somebody else – but some people do. Some by church, others by famous actor or musician, some by politicians. More we try, bigger effect, don’t you think?
Yes you’re right, but do you know what’s the difference between the church, friends and famous people?
That church and friends encourage just because your help is needed. Famous people very often encourage also because they can have something in return (publicity).
Of course I’m not saying that those celebrities aren’t genuinely concerned, but I’m just saying that there is no need to let the world know that they are donating (and how much they’re donating).
And is none of my business if you donated or not Meg ;), my question was rhetorical.
I’m sure that we, here, have done the best that we can.
What it comes down to, is that they’re doing far more good than harm, no matter how stingy we think their donations are. I’m sure the people over there won’t be whining about the motivation behind a 250k donation.
Laura:
January 15th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
@Jen
Gisele didn’t release a statement as though we were waiting with bated breath to hear what they had to say. As though the suffering of others should correlate towards the Brange’s sadness.
She wrote a check out of the goodness of her heart and left it at that.
You don’t think you might be reading into that a little bit? How do you know she wrote a cheque “out of the goodness of her heart” and nothing else? How do you know that? And why do you think the Brange thought everyone would be waiting with “bated breath”? It never occurred to ME that they’d donate, I never thought about it, I certainly wasn’t waiting with “bated breath’ to hear about what a celebrity was going to say about Haiti, I never thought about ANY celebrities donating (but when I heard how many were, I thought it was great, of course.) My point is if you don’t like Brad & Angelina that’s totally your right (I mean, duh lol) but you have to consider that your opinion of them MIGHT be colouring your opinion of their actions. Maybe they just donated because they can. Then again anything and everything they do is scrutinized and criticized to death, so it doesn’t really matter I guess.
@Solveig so then you just proved what I said… still hating the “PLAYERS” and admitting that is part of the “GAME”. We all are but u and me just goes see movies. The STUDIOS choose how much each actor/actress is worth to pay like i say so i still don’t understand hate people for doing their job not hurting, stealing, bad mouthing anybody… just getting pay… is too much YES it is i agree but in every work is somebody getting too much or more then u and me how about the people from wall street… and their robed us all, how about presidents senators governors etc… they all actually rob us and their bad decisions put us in fake war’s etc… So i don’t need hate people for getting more money then me this is always happening and just to u have someone more to hate that is more related… the BIG BOSSES of the Studious have more money then any actor/actress out there if u think that Oprah is rich u are FORGETTING who PAYS HER CHECK.
They are just trying give to some people that have NADA some help just HELP like we all did or do in some point of our life to somebody even in the street. They gain press because their works involves press me and u not so much. And please u could at least think that u could have some lucky and being famous for something someday and u would think that is awful even if u are doing for the deep of ur heart that people think that is always to gain press 🙂
That’s exactly what i find obscene, offensive and totally inappropriate not to mention out of touch.
When death strike with this magnitude and that relief effort is a question of minutes and that money is needed NOW, really how can someone even THINK about the motives of each person giving money and telling about it or qquestion the amount, boggles my mind.
Again, only the lucky ones who are not directly involved in that tragedy will be arrogant enough to even question that at this stage, like the motives should trump and shed a nasty light to the gesture aimed at saving lifes.
Now my question is what is THEIR motives to do so because that is WORST in terms of sanity in the grand scheme of things than the so called MOTIVES of those who give and talk about it….as if talking about how much someone contributed, famous or not to help was the ultimate crime when it is beheficial for good one way or another.
I’m pleasantly surprised to read many comments knocking these celebrities’ so-called charitable donations. I agree every little bit helps, but considering how much these idiots WASTE on lavish homes, multiple cars, art, clothes and god knows what else, I think they could afford a bigger check. I make $10/hr and I’m donating $25 to the Red Cross as soon as I get my next paycheck in a few days. They all paid a very small price for their good press.
BTW, true charity should involve at least some level of sacrifice. What are they giving up to make their donations? A million bucks is a hellava lot to us normal folks, but it’s a drop in the bucket to these ppl. Hey rich ppl: pony up some more dough! You can def afford it!
Mimi, of course you can put n the category the bosses of the studios, the jerks of wall street, politicians (whose job is to gain popularity and do their own businnes, not to govern, as far as it seems…) but none of us is praising them for their (few) good deeds.
If I were famous I would do charity, but I wouldn’t let the world know about it. Probably I would encourage people to donate, but I’m sure I’d feel kind of opportunist. I’m the kind of person who prefers being accused of a “give-a-damn attitude” than let the world know about my good deeds.
It depends on the education I have had. My mother used to say something like “do good, but don’t brag about it (“talk about it” is included in the idea of bragging)”.
As for the “loads-of-money” factor, NicoleAM (the poster above) states a basic concept: “true charity should involve at least some level of sacrifice”.
Ps, I’m not hating and I don’t hate people who’s richer than me. I just find this circus quite disgusting.
@ Cheyenne… i honestly think its sad that people would rely on press releases and statements from celebrities to inpsire them to donate…in fact it’s kind of pathetic. If turning on the news and watching the events as they unfold don’t inspire people to donate or do something then we as a whole are in sad sad state. I don’t get my inspiration from Giselle, BP or AJ…and if people are sitting around waiting for a celeb to “inspire” them to do something than that’s just pathetic. Just my opinion, but i really think people should make their donation and move on… the world does not need to know how much you donated or that you donated at all.
Just for the record:
http://one.org/international/actnow/haiti/?rc=haitifb
Because Haiti has always had some extreme poverty issue…
Dee- Madge wasn’t interested in adopting Haitian children, so her money is better spent Malawi-way.
Analysis of hidden agendas and ulterior motives aside, is anyone monitoring how the funds donated directly are actually being distributed? Haiti has had a history of corrupt government and leaders lining their own pockets at the expense of the populace. All the more reason that donations to specific groups, such as Doctors Without Borders or the Red Cross become vital if these monies are to do some genuine good.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled celebrity bashing…
P.S.- Gisele is very financially savvy. She stipulated in her modeling contracts to be paid in EUR, not USD, long before the EUR surpassed the USD as the supreme global currency and as a result, is laughing all the way to the bank. Its smart moves like that that enable her to make such hefty donations, to this and to many other causes in her home country.
Way to go to Gisele. I don’t have anything against marathons, but please it’s the least Haitians need right NOW. People out there are fighting for life, and struggling to bury the dead. Why don’t they DONATE directly instead of running? I like George but seriously it’s not his smartest touch here!