why?

Actually, I was thinking about dinner.

“Why do celebrities donate a few million to their charity of choice and is then broadcasted over the media for the next 72 hours nonstop?” could have been a better title for this question…

Yes, its a bit sad isn’t it? They throw a pittance to some charity and then bask in the glow of their good deed. Its a shitty PR stunt and all these people are in it together like some big circle jerk. Do eople really think that the bands and organizers from events like Live Aid don’t reap huge benefits? They get to employ all their buddies and pay themselves consultant fees all in the name of “charity”. “Charity” is celebrity/overly-wealthy speak for “how can we leverage this for our own benefit”.

Its the same way all these companies are “going green”. Celebrities are so much like companies. They’re totally narcissistic and very sensitive to what others think of them. Dropping some cash or giving a 5 minute dramatic act on Oprah about the cause célèbre is their way to have people with nothing better to talk about sit around and say “Oh that FILL_IN_OVERPAID_HACK_NAME is so nice the way they care about all those problems in Africa.” and go buy whatever they flog later that week.

If it wasn’t the hip-now-thing, they wouldn’t be there. If it was fashionable to dine on babies, they’d be doing it in a heartbeat.

Yes, I have issues with those types of people.

paulc: You are right for the most part however twenty million a picture dwindles quickly after the entourage is paid and several “stars” have access to political causes in a very different way. There is a scene in the movie “The Jerk” that illustrates this situation well. There are leeches that will seek money no matter what the cause or intention. They are aware that a stars life is very isolated. Often
times these stars will reach a plateau of stardom they know they will never eclipse and suddenly they feel empty and in order to feel productive they begin to attach themselves to causes.

Please understand I am not trying to justify their actions. Many of them are contributing in the name of self-glorification but not all

Highest Regards,

Daniel Riser

@Riser, Well of course not all of them but just one person misusing their notoriety like that is enough to provoke my ire. I have no sympathy for the fact that their lifestyle can give them loneliness. To me, its in the job description and a trade-off for the lifestyle that comes with it.

As for your reference to “The Jerk”: I’ve heard about this – cat juggling! Riser, could there be a God that would let this happen?

Even though they’re only donating one million to a charity, compared to their net worth that might be nothing. But to the charity it is a lot. I don’t necessarily care why they do it, for whatever reason, it is usually a good thing.

I agree with Perchik, but I hate how charities have become fashion depending on the latest natural distaster. What happened to the people of Iran when the aid suddenly became far more popular in Indonesia?
Iranian people who were building new buildings and infrastructure were suddenly screwed over when the money to pay for all their re-builds was pulled and given to Tsunami victims, now they’re even worse off than when their lives were destroyed by earthquakes.

Exactly bluemukaki, that’s the only problem I have with it. `

Okay bluemukaki,
if anything bad happens to your town we will make sure that anything donated to help you out goes to Iran instead, because god knows they need ALL the help in the world.
Maybe for celebritys its just a publicity stunt but you know what, who the f*** cares? That 1 celebrity just donated more $$$ this year than you will in your lifetime no doubt. So get over it, turn off your tv, radio and Internet and go “off the grid” if it bothers you that much to hear about it.

“Why are we not praising our troops and their families who are fighting for us and sacrificing being away from their families for us?”

Uh… people do that. All the time. A lot. A whole lot. Not to say that the celebrity thing doesn’t happen, too. But the thing you’re saying doesn’t happen—it does.