January 06, 2009
Angelina Jolie Tops List of Celebrity Humanitarians
The actress Angelina Jolie for a second year in a row topped AlertNet’s list of the most-respected celebrity humanitarians of 2008.
AlertNet, a Web site operated by the Reuters Foundation to cover international aid, polled its readers to identify the best high-profile do-gooder. Mia Farrow, the actress and Darfur activist, came in second. The least-respected celebrity was Madonna, who received condemnation for her contentious adoption of a boy from Malawi.
Ms. Jolie earned praise for visiting Afghanistan in October to assist refugees, a trip that took place only a few months after she gave birth to twins. Ms. Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, also donated $3-million through their foundation to benefit Ethiopian children and young victims of the Iraq war, writes Emma Batha, an AlertNet reporter.
Not all AlertNet readers adore Ms. Jolie, however. In comments that accompanied the survey, one anonymous writer complains, “She sends mixed messages. Her ‘humanitarian’ life and her real life don’t mix.”
What do you think of Ms. Jolie’s work? What celebrity do you most respect? Click on the comment button below to share your ideas.
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She gets my respect because she actually writes checks for the causes she supports. Most celebrities don’t really care about helping anyone but themselves.
— Sandra Jan 6, 01:56 PM #
Although I agree that many celebrities tend to spend little relative to their net worth, at least the Jolie-Pitt family put’s a respectable amount of money where there mouth is.
— annonymous Jan 6, 02:18 PM #
Charity efforts should not be accessories that are chosen to “match” our lives — they should be efforts to leave the world a better place than we found it. I believe that everyone is called to humanitarian action of some kind, but not all people hear the call and sadly, even fewer answer it.
— Caroline Jan 6, 02:19 PM #
Everybody is so stuck on her “stealing” Brad Pitt, and being “strange”, getting tatted up, and gasp! having children out of wedlock, they refuse to see the bigger picture. What does any of the smaller things people obviously are stuck focusing on, have to do with, oh I don’t know, trying to save thousands of people’s lives and livelihoods? I wouldn’t care is she decided to abandon Hollywood to be a completely tattooed circus freak, and taking on a lesbian couple into her relationship, so long as she continues to do what is really important, and that is help those who are much less fortunate, and trying to better lives of poor people, especially those who are innocent and caught in the middle of wars.
— Stephanie Jan 7, 09:46 AM #
I am pleased to see that she puts some money where her mouth is. So many highly resourced celebs give not much at all. That is shameful in world where there is so much suffering.
— Marcia Jan 7, 02:11 PM #