"Hope For Haiti" Telethon Airs Tonight

Hope For Haiti Now Telethon Airs Tonight At 8 P.M.


On Friday (January 22) at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT), MTV's "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" will air across a number of networks, including MTV. Hollywood A-listers will join forces with some of music's biggest names to raise funds for Haiti after the devastating earthquake hit the nation last Tuesday.

Brad Pitt, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks and Will Smith are among the many participants joining George Clooney (in Los Angeles), Wyclef Jean (in New York) and CNN's Anderson Cooper (reporting from Haiti) for the event.

"You got about 130 to 140 actors, athletes, singers and television hosts, and they're all coming up not to be on TV, but simply to answer the phones," Clooney told MTV News on Thursday. He added that the telethon's main goal is to "raise money, period. That's it. ... Just first and foremost that we can raise a lot of money. If I thought that we could all pick up shovels and go in there and not be in the way, I think a lot of people would do that."

The musical performances will include ones by pop legend Madonna (in New York) and Haitian artist Emeline Michel (in Los Angeles) as well as Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira and Sting in New York. In L.A., Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift will take the stage, plus there will be a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. London will feature Beyoncé, Coldplay and a collaboration between Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna.

"It's gonna be historic," Jean said about his performance at the show. "I have my sister with me, Melky, my cousin with me, Jerry. I have [producer/musician] Papa Jube; he's in charge of those traditional horns that you see. It's definitely a family vibe you'll see tomorrow."

Beginning Friday, iTunes customers will be able to exclusively pre-order the "Hope for Haiti Now" full-performance album ($7.99) and the full two-hour video telecast ($1.99). Pre-orders will be delivered in the days following the telethon. Individual audio performances will also be available for purchase and download for 99 cents each in the days following the telethon. Apple, the record labels and the artists will donate their share of the proceeds to Haiti relief funds managed by "Hope for Haiti Now" charities, including the Red Cross and Wyclef's Yele Haiti foundation. Performances will also be available for purchase in the days following the event through Amazon's MP3 service and Rhapsody, through distribution provided by INgrooves.

Clooney thinks the opportunity to purchase the music afterward will help to extend the shelf life of the relief efforts beyond the one-night broadcast. "We're gonna have 18 songs, and you're gonna get to hear Jennifer Hudson sing a song you never heard her sing before," he said. "John Legend is singing 'Motherless Child'; it's just great. We're gonna have some amazing performances, and I think that's gonna make it last a little longer than just a telethon."

"Hope for Haiti Now" will begin accepting donations at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Friday. "Hope for Haiti Now" will benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation and the newly formed Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from the telethon will be split among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief. With the exception of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, each partner organization was selected for its history of operation and collaboration within the NGO community in Haiti.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will air across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, CNN en Español, HBO Latino and Canadian networks, including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television and MuchMusic. The event will be live streamed online globally across sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com and Rhapsody, and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and FloTV. "Hope for Haiti Now" will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, National Geographic and MTV Networks International, which is available in 640 million homes worldwide. "Hope for Haiti Now" will be available non-exclusively to all terrestrial radio stations around the globe and SIRIUS XM Radio as a one-time-only radio broadcast via the MTV Radio Network and Westwood One.

"Hope for Haiti Now" is produced by Joel Gallen and Tenth Planet Productions, in collaboration with Viacom's MTV Networks and George Clooney.

Learn more about what you can do to help with earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti, and for more information, see Think MTV. Join George Clooney and Wyclef Jean for MTV's "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon, airing commercial-free Friday, January 22, at 8 p.m. ET, and visit HopeForHaitiNow.org or call (877) 99-HAITI to make a donation now.



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Sources: MTV, CNN, Google Maps, Youtube

Wyclef Jeans Cries For Haiti, Calls For Evacuation & Defends Yele

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Wyclef Jean Defends Yele Haiti Charity


Wyclef Jean's very public effort to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims has brought his charity, the Yele Haiti Foundation, under fire.

A report by The Smoking Gun, and a subsequent article in The Washington Post, brought the foundation's financial history, and its effectiveness as an NGO, under scrutiny.

"The group has a lackluster history of accounting for its finances, and that the organization has paid the performer and his business partner at least $410,000 for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert," according to The Smoking Gun.

TSG also pointed out that in August 2009, Jean's charity filed its tax returns for the first time in its twelve year history, but even then returns were only filed for 2005, 2006, and 2007.

“It’s questionable. There’s no way to get around that,” Art Taylor, president and chief executive of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, based in Arlington, Va., told The Associated Press about Yele Haiti's financial history.

“Here’s the bottom line: for an earthquake of catastrophic proportions, do people really believe that this organization is in a position to do anything right now?” he said.

The Yele Haiti Foundation has already revealed that it was not prepared for the overwhelming response to Jean's text-messaging campaign, which launched Tuesday. By Wednesday, the influx in texts had crashed the server.

People were asked to donate $5 by texting "YELE" to 501501. Yele Haiti and Jean managed to raise more than $2 million in just two days.

Jean posted a six-and-a-half minute video on YouTube in response to the allegations on Saturday evening.

"Coming back here, after digging kids up ... this is what I come back to, an attack on my integrity and my foundation," he began.

He went on to say that he has video footage to serve as proof of his dedication, and that he is disgusted by those attacking Yele Haiti.


Sources: MSNBC, NBC New York, CNN, Yele, Youtube

Haiti's Wyclef Jean Seeks Help For His Native Land; Yele.org

Wyclef Jean Seeks Help For Haiti Earthquake Victims In His Homeland




The devastating earthquake that left Haiti's capital in ruins Tuesday has hit too close to home for Wyclef Jean.

The singer, who was born in the Caribbean country, describes the magnitude-7.0 quake as a "natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced."

Believed to be the strongest quake in Haiti in more than 200 years, the trembler struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince at 4:53 p.m. Two powerful aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 soon followed, further damaging structures weakened by the initial quake.

The singer has sent out an urgent plea asking others to help his damaged homeland.

"I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now," Jean said in a statement.

"President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands 'ready to assist' the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible," he added. "The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible."

Since establishing the non-profit Yele Haiti Foundation in 2004, Jean has been active in helping the charity to provide scholarships for the country's children. He has also worked with the United Nations World Food Programme to send food assistance to the island.

Jean is encouraging other to text "Yele" to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund or visit Yele.org and click "donate" to help.



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Sources: NY Daily News, CNN, Yele.org