Celebs and charity

I imagine a lot of celebs are similar.
Bob Geldof only got live aid going by telling each celeb that the one before had immediately agreed to take part.

I expect just having the name Beckham fetches in money to UNICEF.

I don't think only DB will be the only celebrity who behaves in this way (if it is true that is)

It's the celebs that give without making it public knowledge that I admire. That's truly an act of charity rather than letting everyone know they've given their time for free etc etc.

George Michael springs to mind. He did so much and it was never disclosed until his death.

People like Beckham leave me cold. Him and his wife are obsessed with money. They must be well in the super rich bracket now but still crave more. He has signed a deal for £150m to become the face of the Qatar World Cup. I would be far more impressed if they gave a hefty chuck or better still, all of it, to disadvantaged people. I daresay he will get his Knighthood. He only needs to bung a few bob to the right people and it will be Lord and Lady Beckham. God help us.

Who knows what they give and to whom?

I did read an interview with a woman who had phoned in to a radio programme about ivf treatment, and the cost.
They got in touch with her after her call and said that an anonymous person had offered to fund it for her.
It turned out to be George Michael.

Smileless2012

It's the celebs that give without making it public knowledge that I admire. That's truly an act of charity rather than letting everyone know they've given their time for free etc etc.

George Michael springs to mind. He did so much and it was never disclosed until his death.

Exactly. I know she was a Royal rather than a celebrity but I admire the Duchess of Kent for all the time she quietly gave to children who were talented musicians but could not afford to go to the top music schools.

I remember feeling deeply disillusioned when I heard the BBC had paid Sir Terry Wogan to front the Children in Need show. I've just looked online and it seems he said afterwards that he would happily have done it for free. I still don't know what that was all about but at least I feel more kindly disposed towards him again. I still miss him.

I loved sir Tel.
Happy days listening to his radio show and all his silliness.

We don’t know what or if celebs give to charity

I'm sure I saw somewhere that the Beckhams are actually one of the top donators.
Really though, who knows?

This could just be malicious gossip of course, as none of us know what people do privately. I agree about George Michael, I was really upset when he died as I loved his voice and his music, and then to find out that he was a quietly, really decent person......As for the Beckhams, they are what they are, they don't bother me, and if people only donate to a charity because Beckham is fronting it up, well, it says more about their shallowness than anything else.

Well there we go.

Hot on the heels of a thread asking do you believe everything you’re told, we have a post about something that someone read on the internet, which was no doubt posted by somebody who knew someone who had been told that was what the Beckhams did.

Of course, until somebody comes up with concrete proof, none of us know. But just putting it out there is enough for it to spread and spread.

I don’t do “celebrity” anything in case you think I’m a Beckham fan.

That's old news I think. It was a few years ago that this story regarding him doing good deeds in order to get a Knighthood broke. Apparently, emails of his were publicised regarding this matter and they were very damning.

A relation of ours works in the HQ of a large organisation. They always have a yearly fundraising do raising money for a good cause. Around 5 years ago their celebrity cabaret pulled out due to an accident a couple of weeks before. Frantic phone calls were made to agents and a well known boy band agreed to do it and donate their fee to charity for which they received lots of good publicity. The night was a success however a couple of weeks after HQ received their invoice for the evening (thousands+.). Thinking it had been sent in error it was returned along with a thank you letter. It was sent back with a note stating it was correct and needed to be paid. They had given their time for free but their expenses needed paying. It was paid but HQ felt they'd been stung and the charity didn't benefit either.

Most celebrities and other ultra-rich have set up their own charitable foundations mostly for tax benefits. They do not have to publish the financials for their foundations.

This from the Guardian:
Over the course of the year DBVL gave £1m to Unicef, the UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian support to children across the world, for which he is a goodwill ambassador. The donation helped knock the company’s pre-tax profits down from £14.8m in 2018 to £11.3m in 2019.

It's all about reducing profit on the books, and it makes the celebrity look good. I have so many questions about these charitable foundations, but we will never get to see the books on them.