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Jan 05, 2017 12:30 pm
DoSomething.org, a global movement of young people doing good announces its ninth annual Celebs Gone Good list.
Celebs Gone Good is an annual list that recognizes the year’s top celebrities who use their star power for social change.
Beyoncé topped this year’s list for using her platform to bring light to a variety of causes including representation of black women in popular culture, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and gender equality. The Lemonade singer also put the spotlight on the #BlackLivesMatter movement by sharing the red carpet at MTV’s VMAs with the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Oscar Grant III. Additionally, Beyoncé teamed up with Jay-Z to host a charity concert with Tidal to benefit the poverty-fighting organization, The Robin Hood Foundation.
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda may have been “Non-Stop” this year with the success of the hit musical, but he made time to elevate causes close to his heart. As a tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Miranda teamed up with Jennifer Lopez on a song called “Love Make the World Go Round” and donated proceeds to the Hispanic Federation’s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative. He also used his Tony Awards acceptance speech to pay tribute to the victims and reminded everyone that “Love is love is love is love.” Later this year, Miranda and his mother partnered with the celebrity fundraising platform Prizeo to offer a lucky winner the chance to see Hamilton in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco to raise funds for Planned Parenthood.
Other stars who topped the list include Taylor Swift who after the flooding in Louisiana, donated $1 million toward relief efforts. Demi Lovato used her platform to speak up about mental health issues by urging politicians to make mental health care accessible. Shailene Woodley helped bring national attention to the movement to call for a stop to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. WWE Superstar John Cena starred in the Ad Council’s “Love Has No Labels” video and to date, has granted more than 500 wishes for children across the globe in support of Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The 2016 “Top 20 Celebs Gone Good” list:
1 Beyoncé
2 Lin-Manuel Miranda
3 Taylor Swift
4 Demi Lovato
5 Shailene Woodley
6 John Cena
7 Miley Cyrus
8 Lady Gaga
9 Zendaya
10 Jesse Williams
11 Gina Rodriguez
12 Chance the Rapper
13 Tyler Oakley
14 Serena Williams
15 Yara Shahidi
16 Justin Bieber
17 Shawn Mendes
18 Misha Collins
19 Nyle DiMarco
20 Aziz Ansari
In addition to the Top 20 Celebs Gone Good list, DoSomething.org chose five “Celebs to Watch in 2017” highlighting young talent using their platforms to give back. This year’s Celebs to Watch list included:
1 Rowan Blanchard
2 Amandla Stenberg
3 Jaden Smith
4 Alessia Cara
5 Maddie & Mackenzie Ziegler
The “Top Internet Celebs” were chosen by fans for using the power of their online platforms for social good. This year’s winners are:
1 The Dolan Twins
2 Markiplier
3 Caspar Lee
4 Cameron Dallas
5 Colleen Ballinger
The Celebs Gone Good winners are compiled as a result of a three-part methodology (1) Votes and nominations from the public (2) Celebrities’ STARmeter ranking on Internet Movie Database and (3) Expertise from the Celebs Gone Good Advisory Committee.
Jan 05, 2017 10:00 am
PETA has paid tribute to George Michael and Carrie Fisher, both of whom passed away over the holiday break.
“Everyone at PETA will remember George Michael as a music legend who had a big heart and a legendary love of dogs,” said PETA Senior Manager Andrew Bernstein. “As charitable as he was talented, George joined fellow singer and animal advocate Morrissey just earlier this month in leading other musicians as well as actors in calling on the British government to crack down on the illegal pet trade and enact new laws that would help improve welfare standards for animals. George was a devoted guardian who found it hard to be away from his canine companions when he had to travel. During a 2012 tour, the singer and his crew made a photo collage of their animal companions. This “Dog Wall” traveled with them everywhere they went and was later auctioned off. The world has lost a phenomenal singer and a beautiful voice for animals.”
Bernstein went on to say about Carrie Fisher:
“We at PETA join the world in mourning the loss of Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher. She may be best remembered for her iconic role as Princess Leia, but we fondly remember her for her devotion to her dog, Gary. An unabashed dog defender and PETA supporter, she called Gary her ‘heart’ and took him everywhere, including to red carpet events, on her Star Wars: The Force Awakens press tour, and on a recent book-signing tour for her memoir, The Princess Diarist. She was outspoken about helping animals in need: Just this past June, she joined a demonstration outside London’s Chinese embassy to call for a ban on the country’s annual Yulin dog-eating festival, in which thousands of dogs and cats are bludgeoned or even skinned alive before being butchered for meat. ‘These poor dogs need us to fight for them,’ she said. ‘Every single one of them is as precious as my dear Gary, every one of them is someone’s best friend.’ Fisher will always be remembered for her phenomenal talent, passion, honesty, love for dogs, and dedication to helping others.”
Jan 05, 2017 08:00 am
Pamela Anderson has made an art out of channelling the media’s interest in her in order to help animals.
From being a role model for vegan eating to speaking out against circuses that use animals and calling for a ban on foie gras, the adored blonde is a tour de force in the animal-protection movement. That’s why
PETA has named her its 2016 Person of the Year – a title that has, in previous years, been given to Morrissey, Ricky Gervais, and the late Tony Benn.
“Anderson’s advocacy for animals helps open eyes, hearts, and minds”, says PETA Managing Director Ingrid Newkirk. “Animals who are in dire need of assistance have a beautiful friend in her, and we are grateful that she takes every opportunity to explain why, as our motto states, ‘Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way’.”
Just weeks ago, Anderson hand-delivered a 180,000-strong petition to the High Commission of Mauritius urging the country to implement a spay-and-neuter programme to tackle its stray-dog overpopulation crisis. In late October, she took to the streets of London with a bevy of animal mascots to encourage everyone to see animals as friends, not food, saying, “Eating animals is so yesterday”. And in early October, she urged Prime Minister Theresa May to bring forward legislation banning wild-animal circuses, writing, “Brexit is complicated, but kissing circus animal acts goodbye is easy as pie”.
And that’s not all: earlier in the year, she urged the French Assembly to ban foie gras, asked the Canadian government to help her save seals, offered to cook vegan meals for prisoners in Louisiana, urged women to give up real fur (saying at a news conference in Russia that “dressing in real fur is kind of old-fashioned and boring”), and expanded her vegan shoe collection –proving that compassion and fashion go hand in hand.
Jan 05, 2017 06:30 am
Music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins has paid tribute to Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt, who died just before Christmas.
“Nordoff Robbins were incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Parfitt over Christmas,” the charity said in a statement. “Rick, alongside Francis Rossi, was a patron of Nordoff Robbins and a big supporter of our work. We were lucky enough to know Rick well and he spent time getting to know our work and the people we helped and he was a regular visitor to our events and our HQ to see our music therapy first hand.
“Status Quo won a Silver Clef Award in 1981, and later a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. They were there at our Live at Knebworth concert in 1990, and continued to generously support our events, from the Race Day, Boxing Dinner and Clay Shoot, to donating all manner of signed guitars and even welcome drinks for the 2014 Silver Clef Awards.
“We couldn’t have hoped for a more passionate supporter than Rick. The world has lost a great musician, philanthropist, and a generally great man. We’re proud to have called him a friend.”
“We have been supporting Nordoff Robbins for over 20 years and are proud to be their Patrons. The work they do, helping people through music is really amazing. We have seen for ourselves how Nordoff Robbins music therapy can have a huge impact on vulnerable children and adults who are limited or isolated by their condition. Music therapy quite literally uses the power of music to transform lives.” – Francis and Rick, Status Quo |
