Look To The Stars News: Mel Gibson

Stars Help Honor Sean Penn's Work In Haiti

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0000

A host of stars were out in Beverly Hills in the weekend to celebrate Sean Penn and his work with the J/P Haitian Relief Organization.

A swag of celebrities – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts, Kim Kardashian, Mel Gibson, Orlando Bloom, George Clooney, Demi Moore, Diane Lane, Josh Brolin, Petra Nemcova, Emily Watson, Hilary Swank, Harvey Weinstein, James Gandolfini, Rumor Willis and many more – turned out at the Montage Hotel on Saturday to watch Penn be awarded the Cinema For Peace Honorary Award for his work in Haiti.

The event also featured a huge celebrity charity auction that saw one of Angelina Jolie’s rings go under the hammer for $60,000. Damien Rice bought one of Bono’s guitars for $475,000, and Julia Roberts’ husband, Danny Moder, forked out $50,000 for the chance to work with Penn in Haiti.

Giving Back Fund Announces Top 30 Celebrity Charity Donations For 2011

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:20:00 +0000

The Giving Back Fund (GBF), a nonprofit organization that provides philanthropic management and consulting to the sports and entertainment industries, released its fifth annual Giving Back 30, a list of the 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011 according to public records.

The list includes celebrities from many walks of life including actors, writers, producers, musicians, comedians, and athletes.

Topping the list were actress Jami Gertz and her husband, Anthony Ressler, who donated $10,569,002 to the Ressler Gertz Foundation. Coming in second was musician Herb Alpert, who gave $9,104,829 to the Herb Alpert Foundation – which focuses on the arts, compassion and well being – followed by Mel Gibson, who gave $6,853,020 to the AP Reilly Foundation, which he started to support the Holy Family Church.

Photos: Mel Gibson Visits Sick Children In Guatemala

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Mel Gibson has finished his court-mandated community service with Mending Kids International (MKI), a nonprofit organization that provides life-saving surgery to children in developing countries.

Mel spent 56 hours of community service with MKI during a three-day (June 6th – 8th), intensive surgical mission clinical trip to Guatemala City, along with a nine-member team that included Dr. Jorge Lazareff, director of pediatric neurosurgery at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.

Oksana Grigorieva Hosts Charity Party For Chernobyl Children

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Mel Gibson’s girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva brought together a circle of friends on Thursday evening at a benefit to support Chernobyl Children’s Project International’s cardiac surgery program.

At the February 11 event at Romanov Restaurant & Lounge in Studio City, Grigorieva performed her charity single, Angel, available on iTunes and through her website at Oksana.fm.

Joined at the benefit by Mel Gibson, Grigorieva asked her friends to support the efforts of the charity to bring hope to children in Chernobyl affected regions of Ukraine and Belarus.

Oksana Grigorieva Films PSA For Chernobyl Victims

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Oksana Grigorieva, the Russian/Ukrainian singer who just gave birth to a baby with Mel Gibson, has filmed a video designed to raise awareness about the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, and is asking viewers to join her in supporting the Chernobyl Children’s Project International.

Today in Ukraine, 6000 children are born with genetic cardiac disease, and only half will get the surgery they need to survive. The others will die. Chernobyl Children’s Project International is sending volunteer cardiac surgery teams to Ukraine and Belarus to perform free operations. Oksana is from that part of the world and she is very passionate about finding a way to help.

“Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI) helps children and families in communities that suffer the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986,” says Oksana. "As a mother myself, I really believe that it is important for people — especially children — to look forward to the future with hope, not with fear and dread. Chernobyl Children’s Project International’s calling card is one of hope. They work to interrupt the domino effect of poverty, poor health, and social upheaval that continues to plague so many in the region. They offer solutions and partnerships, not mere charity.

Giving Back Fund Releases 2009's Top Celebrity Givers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Look To The Stars is proud to announce that our partners at the Giving Back Fund have announced their third annual Giving Back 30, a list of celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity according to public records.

Readers may have been surprised to learn that Paul Newman replaced Oprah Winfrey as the most generous celebrity of 2008. Oprah had occupied the number one spot by a wide margin for the first two years of the list.

Before his death, Newman made a donation of nearly $21 million to his self-named Newman’s Own Foundation. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were second with a $13.5 million donation to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which distributed $6.4 million to charity, including a $2 million grant to The Global Health Committee for an Ethiopian clinic project, a $1 million grant to the Make it Right Foundation founded by Pitt, and $500,000 to the Armed Services YMCA USA.

New Film Addresses Iran's Human Rights Violations

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:00:00 +0000

On the heels of Iran’s controversial presidential election, the Iranian-born star and the Iranian-American director of the docu-drama “The Stoning of Soraya M.” will highlight human rights issues in Iran at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on June 17.

In a panel discussion, Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Sand and Fog,” “24”) and director Cyrus Nowrasteh (“The Path to 9/11”) will discuss the brutal practice of execution by stoning, injustices against women, international human rights violations, and their film “The Stoning of Soraya M.”

Adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam’s 1994 book “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” (Amazon) the film tells the true story of an incident that took place Iran in the 1980’s after the Islamic Revolution – the stoning execution of a young woman named Soraya, convicted on false charges of adultery. Journalist Sahebjam, played by Jim Caviezel (“Déjà vu,” “The Passion of the Christ,” “The Thin Red Line”) relays the tale told by Soraya’s aunt, played by Aghdashloo. The film’s graphic stoning scene has been called powerful, haunting, and difficult to watch, but one Aghdashloo says she had to do.

The Hiltons Help Out For Christmas

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Paris Hilton’s mother, Kathy, held her annual Christmas auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Saturday, December 20.

The auction was broadcast live on the internet and featured over 200 items, such as a meet-and-greet with the Jonas Brothers, shoes and a necklace donated by Elizabeth Taylor, autographed guitars from Melissa Etheridge and Avril Lavigne, a tambourine signed by Brian Wilson and designer clothes taken from the closets of Paris and Nicky Hilton.

Kathy Hilton held her first celebrity auction last year, and raised over $27,000 with items such as Mel Gibson’s jeans, Tom Cruise’s sunglasses, and an Ocean’s Thirteen script signed by the movie’s stars, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Giving Back Fund Announces Top 30 Celebrity Givers

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:30:00 +0000

The Giving Back Fund has released its second annual Giving Back 30 survey, a ranking of the celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in 2007 according to public records.

Heading the list was Oprah Winfrey, who donated $50.2 million to the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprah’s Angel Network to “support the
inspiration, empowerment and education of women, children, and families around the world and to encourage people around the world to make a difference in the lives of others”. Coming in second was Herb Alpert, who donated a total of $13 million to the Herb Alpert Foundation, followed by Barbra Streisand, who gave over $11 million to the Streisand Foundation.

Celebrities' Festive Gifts

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:21:24 +0000

A pledge to walk one of the biggest man-made structures in the world, a successful celebrity auction, a tour of far away places, and a donation of time and energy were just some of the ways celebrities gave to the poor, the sick, and those unable to spend time with their families this Christmas.

Singer Olivia Newton-John met with the founders of Welsh breast cancer charity In The Pink over Christmas to discuss fund raising opportunities, and revealed her plans to walk the length of the Great Wall of China in April. Proceeds from the walk will go to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Australia, and the 59-year-old breast cancer survivor will also donate items to In The Pink to auction later in the year.

Meanwhile, socialite Kathy Hilton organized a charity auction over Christmas, featuring a selection of items donated by some of her famous friends. Mel Gibson’s jeans, Tom Cruise’s sunglasses, and an Ocean’s Thirteen script signed by the movie’s stars, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt, raised money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Mel Gibson Supports The Kidz

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:39:36 +0000

While in Singapore last week, Mel Gibson made a last minute donation of S$25,000 ($16,000) to Kidz Horizon Appeal, an organization that supports children suffering from cancer, HIV and other chronic and terminal illnesses.

In town for the annual invitation-only Forbes Global CEO Conference, the actor/director’s surprise donation inspired two CEOs to match his pledge; Mr Vinod Sekhar of Petra Group and Mr Patrick Wee of the True Group (Gibson’s guide around town) each increased his initial S$10,000 ($6,500) donation to the charity.

Although they are reluctant to speak about it, Gibson and his wife are no strangers to supporting children’s charities, having made donations which reportedly run into millions of dollars.

Gibson Supports Green Rubber

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:02:03 +0000

Mel Gibson is going all out to recycle tire rubber by applying his charismatic star appeal to help kick-start a venture by Green Rubber’s in New Mexico. Gibson has been a long-time crusader for practical solutions to environmental problems, so his collaboration with Green Rubber Global was no surprise. He is one of the financial backers for the enterprise — a subsidiary of Petra Group, which has invented the world’s first commercially-viable, waste-free way to recycle tires.

About 1 billion tires worldwide end up as waste each year, nearly 300 million of them in the United States. Most go into landfills or are burned, practices that are coming under more environmental scrutiny. “This is the world’s greatest environmental concern,” said Vinod Sekhar, founder and president of Petra Group. The annual tire waste includes 1.5 billion gallons of fossil fuel, he said.

Realizing the problem, Green Rubber Global, a Malaysia-based global company plans to invest $30 million in its first tire recycling plant in Gallup, employing about 140 workers, and this is only the beginning. At least six more green rubber factories are to be expected in America, where they will use waste-free environmentally friendly technology to produce a rubber compound that can be used to make all kinds of products – including more tires.

Mel Gibson Plans Costa Rican Donation

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:19:25 +0000

Mel Gibson has met with the President of Costa Rica to discuss making a donation to help the local indian population.

Gibson was granted an hour-long meeting on July 9 at the home of President Oscar Arias, during which the actor and the Nobel Peace Prize recipient talked at length about ways to assist the 50,000 native people living in the country.

“He wants to help the indigenous population here,” said Arias afterwards. “And he wants to know how to channel the funds.”

Gibson Helps Provide Housing

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 20:35:09 +0000

Actor-director Mel Gibson is donating money to help build homes in Mexico’s Veracruz state, where he is currently filming.

Mexico’s family welfare agency and the Rotary Club will distribute the money to build houses for the poor in the cities of Veracruz and Andres Tuxtla.

Gibson also donated $1 million last year to help the people of the region recover from Hurricane Stan.