This A+/A list mostly movie actor didn't do what he did in the past for publicity. He did what he did in the past because his wife at the time figured out how to make money off the suffering of others.
I can attest that 99% of charities are a scam, not just the celebrity ones. I was on the board of directors of an A+ celebrity charity as well as others run by the 1%. I saw them for what they are and ran far far away. I raised a lot of money for these scams before I learned my lesson. Well-known charities have asked me to sit on their boards since. You couldn't pay me to be a part of it. I stick to local animal charities and people right in my backyard who need help. If we take care of people and animals close to home, there would be no need for these money laundering ventures celebrities and the 1% call CHARITY.
just look at the running costs of the top charities, youll be amazed at the salaries and the expenses being claimed by the directors and other board members. Celebrity fronted foundations are tax avoidance schemes with a famous face. Fronts for buying property, art, making big donations to countries that you "adopt" children from etc.
It started with the Komen Foundation. That was the first "charity" that used MLM tactics to make money as a corporate entity and hide behind the Awareness label from doing anything good for the world.
@RJM
"Celebrity fronted foundations are tax avoidance schemes"
Not all, but a whole damn lot of them! Also, the largest charity scams have no celebrity attached to them at all.
Go to Charity Review Council, or something like that on the internet. Type in the name of the charity. It will give the breakdown of expenses, and rate the charity by how it spends its money.
My friend was teaching overseas and found someone who was very ill and needed some desperate medical attention. He just couldn't let that person suffer, so he figured, I know! I'll just go to a charity! They have offices right here in town... (He lives in a big city overseas; millions of people) ...after all, they're here to help locals fight disease, poverty, etc. Surely they can pay for some life-saving medicine...
He managed to meet someone from one of the charities. (I won't name the charity, because they have a lot of lawyers on retainer to protect their reputations...so they can continue squeezing money from the gullible.) One day that person pulled up to my friend's apartment in a brand-new white SUV.
"Wow!" my friend said. "You must be the boss, riding around in a company car."
"Uh, not really," he said. "Anyone (in the firm) can get one. You just need to sign for it."
My friend got in, wondering if he was in the wrong line of work.
My friend was driven to one of the top hotels in the city. Imported luxury cars came and went, dropping off men in pimpy suits and designer shirts. They were accompanied by "models" of all kinds, women who were dripping with diamonds. These people were actually there for the charity luncheon, to try and wheedle some cash out of the foreign offices of famous charities.
My friend entered the hotel with the charity noob. It was the sort of place that embassy types and CEOs stay at. The bar was opulent, the interior was luxurious. The banquet room was like a party scene from a movie: the tables were "groaning beneath the weight of all that food." (This banquet was taking place in a country where a natural disaster could cause a famine and put millions at risk of starvation.)
As my friend wandered around, he saw men on their cellphones (they were new back in the late 90s) wandering around the corridors. Their Patek Philippe watches were glinting on their wrists as they called charity officials, demanding their share of the money. It was like watching a feeding frenzy, he told me later.
After the lunch, he had a private meeting with one of the junior officers of the charity. This junior officer had an impressive office; you'd almost think the charity execs were living high on the hog, spending donation money on office furniture and golf lessons.
My friend explained the tragic accident which sent a young girl to hospital in critical condition and he asked how he could get some money.
"I'm afraid you're not an organization," said the junior charity thief. "We don't deal with individual cases. We only write checks to local organizations. They know best how to spend that money."
My friend must've made some sarcastic comment ("Yeah, I saw their forty-thousand-dollar WATCHES!") because he was escorted out promptly.
You'll be relieved to know that, after weeks of spreading the word and pressing the flesh, he managed to get a few thousand dollars for this poor young girl whom others had lost hope for. But the entire episode confirmed my friend's worst suspicions about opportunistic charities.
Depp/Heard?
ReplyDeleteBrad Pitt
ReplyDeleteBrad Pitt and all of Jolie's humanitarian work
ReplyDeleteIs this Brad Pitt and the homes in Louisiana?
ReplyDelete@gauloise
ReplyDelete+1
When are people going to realize that every celebrity charity act or especially "Foundation" is a scam?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Brad Pitt.
ReplyDelete@davina - I would make a few exceptions to that rule, namely Gary Senise. He's the real deal. Love him.
ReplyDeleteTo be different, Ashton with the mosquito nets etc.
ReplyDelete@Ice Angel
ReplyDelete+1
I can attest that 99% of charities are a scam, not just the celebrity ones.
ReplyDeleteI was on the board of directors of an A+ celebrity charity as well as others run by the 1%.
I saw them for what they are and ran far far away.
I raised a lot of money for these scams before I learned my lesson.
Well-known charities have asked me to sit on their boards since.
You couldn't pay me to be a part of it.
I stick to local animal charities and people right in my backyard who need help.
If we take care of people and animals close to home, there would be no need for these
money laundering ventures celebrities and the 1% call CHARITY.
Good on you. When we all know how to use these legal structures the same as them, but for good, we'll turn things around.
DeleteWe only donate to local charities - food banks, church groups, school fund raisers,etc.
ReplyDeletejust look at the running costs of the top charities, youll be amazed at the salaries and the expenses being claimed by the directors and other board members. Celebrity fronted foundations are tax avoidance schemes with a famous face. Fronts for buying property, art, making big donations to countries that you "adopt" children from etc.
ReplyDeleteIt started with the Komen Foundation. That was the first "charity" that used MLM tactics to make money as a corporate entity and hide behind the Awareness label from doing anything good for the world.
ReplyDelete@RJM
"Celebrity fronted foundations are tax avoidance schemes"
Not all, but a whole damn lot of them! Also, the largest charity scams have no celebrity attached to them at all.
I think St Jude Hospital is probably legit
ReplyDelete@Morning Lorri - But do we need a foundation dedicated to "take a sad song, and make it better?" Or to "Remember, to let her into your heart..."
ReplyDelete@Morning
ReplyDeleteBy all accounts, the Shriners and St Judes are totally legit. Great charity.
See the need, meet the need. Charity starts at home. Be the change you want to see in the world. Platitudes get their start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI can also vouch for the Shriners. They do good work.
ReplyDeleteGo to Charity Review Council, or something like that on the internet.
ReplyDeleteType in the name of the charity.
It will give the breakdown of expenses, and rate the charity by how it spends its money.
+1 to ihavenocomment.
ReplyDeleteMy friend was teaching overseas and found someone who was very ill and needed some desperate medical attention. He just couldn't let that person suffer, so he figured, I know! I'll just go to a charity! They have offices right here in town... (He lives in a big city overseas; millions of people) ...after all, they're here to help locals fight disease, poverty, etc. Surely they can pay for some life-saving medicine...
He managed to meet someone from one of the charities. (I won't name the charity, because they have a lot of lawyers on retainer to protect their reputations...so they can continue squeezing money from the gullible.) One day that person pulled up to my friend's apartment in a brand-new white SUV.
"Wow!" my friend said. "You must be the boss, riding around in a company car."
"Uh, not really," he said. "Anyone (in the firm) can get one. You just need to sign for it."
My friend got in, wondering if he was in the wrong line of work.
My friend was driven to one of the top hotels in the city. Imported luxury cars came and went, dropping off men in pimpy suits and designer shirts. They were accompanied by "models" of all kinds, women who were dripping with diamonds. These people were actually there for the charity luncheon, to try and wheedle some cash out of the foreign offices of famous charities.
My friend entered the hotel with the charity noob. It was the sort of place that embassy types and CEOs stay at. The bar was opulent, the interior was luxurious. The banquet room was like a party scene from a movie: the tables were "groaning beneath the weight of all that food." (This banquet was taking place in a country where a natural disaster could cause a famine and put millions at risk of starvation.)
As my friend wandered around, he saw men on their cellphones (they were new back in the late 90s) wandering around the corridors. Their Patek Philippe watches were glinting on their wrists as they called charity officials, demanding their share of the money. It was like watching a feeding frenzy, he told me later.
After the lunch, he had a private meeting with one of the junior officers of the charity. This junior officer had an impressive office; you'd almost think the charity execs were living high on the hog, spending donation money on office furniture and golf lessons.
My friend explained the tragic accident which sent a young girl to hospital in critical condition and he asked how he could get some money.
"I'm afraid you're not an organization," said the junior charity thief. "We don't deal with individual cases. We only write checks to local organizations. They know best how to spend that money."
My friend must've made some sarcastic comment ("Yeah, I saw their forty-thousand-dollar WATCHES!") because he was escorted out promptly.
You'll be relieved to know that, after weeks of spreading the word and pressing the flesh, he managed to get a few thousand dollars for this poor young girl whom others had lost hope for. But the entire episode confirmed my friend's worst suspicions about opportunistic charities.
Why didn’t your friend just reach out to one of the smaller local organizations, as suggested? Thats how they work.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that's a scam is this site & the idiots that buy what he's selling.
ReplyDeleteTrillions have been donated to certain African countries over decades, yet there's still famine.
ReplyDeleteIf that's not enough proof for charities being scams, I don't know what is.
Then donate to organizations the stress education over famine relief...or just let people starve, cuz you know, it ain't your problem, right?
ReplyDelete