Jolie-Pitt Money Zoned for War
The Jolie-Pitt Foundation’s good intentions are once again pointed eastward.
The nonprofit set up to dole out the namesake thespian couple’s excess dough to good causes has made a $1 million contribution to a handful of groups benefiting kids affected by the war in Iraq.
Half the hefty sum will be spread out among three education and relief organizations in the embattled Middle East nation, according to the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which said that nearly 5,700 kids will benefit from the donation.
The other $500,000 will go to the U.S.’ Armed Services YMCA Operation Hero Program, which provides tutoring and counseling for children who have a parent stationed overseas or have lost a parent in the fighting.
Meanwhile, the clothes off of Angelina’s back are slowly doing their part to help hurricane victims on these shores.
The current bid for the zip-up leather jacket Jolie wore in her new action flick Wanted stands at $1,500 on CharityFolks.com, with all proceeds going to the Morgan Freeman-championed Plan!t Now fund.
“Angelina was nice enough to donate the original jacket she wore and used in one of the coolest scenes of the movie,” Charity Folks founder Kelly Fiore told News Wednesday. “We have big expectations. Last time, she donated jewelry she wore to the Golden Globes, and it sold for $20,000.”
But considering it’s summer and not exactly leather-jacket weather, it makes sense that a round of golf with Freeman is currently going for $5,000 and four tickets to The Country Girl on Broadway, in which the mellifluous-voiced actor is making a rare theatrical appearance, are valued at $2,500.
And, Fiore said, friends of Freeman’s such as Ben Affleck, Alice Cooper and Sheryl Crow are set to give a little piece of their heartsor possessions, at leastas well. Plus, memorabilia from the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight will be on the block soon.
“Morgan’s friends have been stepping up and saying, ’I want to donate!’” Fiore said. “We are still in the brainstorming phase, thinking of cool movie memorabilia that fans will love.”
Additional reporting by Whitney English
Bridgestone: “Headlights”
This was the funniest commercial I’ve sen all night. There wasn’t quite as long of a buildup as the squirrel commercial earlier in the night, but it was equal to if not funnier.
It started out innocently enough. The driver did a great job avoiding the innocent little deer chilling haphazardly in the street.
Then it got interesting. I couldn’t quite tell what I was looking at, then imagine my surprise when Alice Cooper was in crouching in the middle of the road holding a snake. Okay, that was a little random, but I guess that’s pretty funny…what could possibly be next?Of course the climax came when we saw Richard Simmons doing exercise in the middle of the street. My first instinct was to scream the exact action the driver took. “Punch It!
This commercial would have been glorious if Richard Simmon’s little scream had occurred while his body tumbled through the air like a video game character in a game that employed rag doll physics.
No such luck. We still got a scream, but Richard Simmons survived the experience. I think it was a great commercial nonetheless.
For Sale: The Land Next to the Hollywood Sign!?
Los Angeles residents fear that the world famous Hollywood sign might be threatened by a real estate deal. The AP reports that an investment group that owns 138 acres above and to the left of the sign have put the land up for sale last month for $22 million. Some Los Angeles residents are afraid mansions will be built there, while others are afraid that billboard advertisements could be sold on the uncluttered hill.
The sign was first erected in 1923. The land was purchased by billionaire Howard Hughes in 1940, who owned the property until in 2002 Fox River Financial Resources, a Chicago investors who quietly purchased the peak from Hughes’ estate for $1.7 million. But the group had not put the property up for sale until recently. The real estate agent representing the property claims that “the parcel is farther away from the Hollywood sign than many people realize, and that at a distance, even a mansion would be a mere ‘speck’ on the mountain.”
The City of Los Angeles, which owns the ground the sign stands on and the land on three sides of it, should be allowed to acquire the old Hughes property. However laws prohibit the city to legally pay more than $6 million, the price for which the property has most recently been appraised for. The councilman is hoping to talk conservation groups into buying the land or to ask Hollywood big wigs to chip in. Apparently in 1970s, Hugh Hefner, Alice Cooper and other celebrities paid $28,000 each to replace the Hollywood sign’s nine crumbling letters.
One thing is for sure, it would be a real shame if billboards or mansions were visible next to the iconic shot of the Hollywood sign.