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View Full Version : The Sept 11th Charity fiasco


cbspock
04-11-2002, 07:37 PM
These celebrities were only in it for the publicity, look at the lack of support for this charity project. Even Rosie O'Donnell was upset that celebrities wouldn't put their money where their mouths were. I hope this exploitation comes to bite all the celebrities who participated in this. Even the money has not gotten to the families here in NY.

For those that do not have FOX news, Bill O'Rielly has made it his mission to see that the victim's families of 9/11 get the money owed them from all these charities who raised money. He has persistently gone after the Red Cross, United Way, and the Celebrity 9/11 charity [which was basically a publicity stunt, see Rosie's interview on the site]. He has gotten the Red Cross and United Way to fess up and raked them over the coals to find out where all the money has gone, and what the hold ups have been, and the bogus stuff some of the money has been used for. He has been riding the celebrities, because they don't seem too concerned that the money raised has not gotten to the families, only a handful have come forward to voice concern.....

-Chris

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,50057,00.html
More bad news about the 9/11 charity situation.


You may remember back on September 21, all the networks simultaneously broadcast a concert to benefit the 9/11 families and others who were directly affected by the terror attack.

Off that concert, CDs and cassettes went on sale, released December 4. Well, up until this week, we hadn't heard anything about the money generated from the sale of those recordings.

Here's the deal. The project essentially was a bomb, with only about $9 million expected to go to charity after expenses. Called The Tribute to Heroes CD, the record sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide, not a large number.

After Factor producer Kristine Kotta began calling Warner Music and Sony Interscope, things began moving, and the United Way told us they expect to receive the money shortly. They haven't received anything thus far.

The main reason the project failed, in my opinion, was lack of promotion, which costs money. So why didn't the artists get out and publicize it? Good question.

So we asked the artists. That was fun. The following people had no comment: Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, John Bon Jovi, Sting, Dave Matthews, Tom Pettet, Neal Young, Stevie Wonder, Fred Durst, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vetter, Paul Simon, the Dixie Chicks, Enrique Iglesias, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Alicia Keyes.

Billy Joel is ill but said he is concerned. Take 6 wants to wait until Sony makes an official statement on the matter before they comment.

So once again, just like the Hollywood community, there's little follow-through with the musicians. Again, Talking Points is amazed. Doing good is a long-term strategy. You just can't do a project and let it go, you have to see it through to the end.

If these pop stars really wanted to make a difference, they would have promoted the heck out of that recording on their own time and dime. The media loves these people, getting attention is no problem.

But no, the project failed, and it shouldn't have. There's a important untold story about fame in America, the power of celebrity. We will begin telling it, and in June there'll be an O'Reilly Factor special on the subject.

Remember, all who participated in the concert got great publicity for themselves, so they owe it to the families to help them as much as possible. No comments don't cut it.

And that's the memo.

tower
04-15-2002, 06:03 AM
I saw that show in the UK, very emotional - but donated via the Web and though it took about 4 months got a very nice thank you along with a breakdown of the Total raised so far.

I was well impressed. :)

cbspock
04-15-2002, 06:09 AM
Originally posted by tower
I saw that show in the UK, very emotional - but donated via the Web and though it took about 4 months got a very nice thank you along with a breakdown of the Total raised so far.

I was well impressed. :)


That's nice, however, the money raised is not being distributed to the right people yet.

-Chris

FV
04-15-2002, 07:34 AM
Originally posted by tower
I saw that show in the UK, very emotional - but donated via the Web and though it took about 4 months got a very nice thank you along with a breakdown of the Total raised so far.

I was well impressed. :)
It was very nice of you to help Tom! :) HEY1