A savvy man once said: “The biggest factor in attracting aid is not the amount of human suffering caused by an event, but the amount of media coverage it receives.” 

Celebrities traditionally love to depict themselves as humanitarians, often rushing to seize headlines in relief efforts following natural disasters.   But are Hollywood celebrities politically selective when publicizing human tragedy?

The problem is that celebrity showcasing of natural disasters, such as concerts for domestic relief, can be politically touchy: They imply governmental inaction or mishandling, hence the “need” for private fundraising, and second, they highlight tragedy and suffering by Americans in our country.  Together these are political buzzkill for an administration in full reelection mode desperate to keep a happy face on the state of the union.

Does Hollywood tend to publicly spotlight American suffering when Republicans control the White House?  Recall FarmAid during the Reagan Administration?  Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp rallied to “help” the suffering of farmers facing foreclosures under a backdrop of relentless media presentation of their suffering.  Yet during the Obama Administration, more homeowners have suffered foreclosure and repossession than anytime in history.  Yet no sweet music there.  No nationally publicized Hollywood relief to emphasize the suffering plight of Americans under Obama.

During Bush 43’s Administration, “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” was thrown together with, well, whirlwind speed and nationally broadcast on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC, showcasing artists including Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis and Tim McGraw. Matt Lauer of the “Today” show acted as host of the telethon.  ”Shelter From the Storm” was another big Hollywood fundraiser featuring a Bush-bashing Kanye West.  Such star-studded Katrina fundraising is still ongoing.

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“So I had no sense of who I was. You know I was just, I was just trying to save my life on a daily basis. And so, people have said, you know, “You had to have know you were gay.” I realized I was so un-self-examined I could have been a Republican, but you know, thank goodness I’m just gay. So that’s much better, don’t you think?”

I have a standing rule about buying books written by people say moronic stuff like “I was so un-examined,” but obviously Meredith Baxter (now minus the Birney) doesn’t want half the country — Republicans — to buy her book anyway. Why else would she be out hawking a product on national television and insult half her potential audience.

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Good to know Kanye West is capable of shame. There might be hope for him yet. Who would’ve ever guessed that after eight years of the worst kind of cruelty and vitriol aimed at President Bush that West would be the first to publicly take it back. Knowing the left as we all do, Kanye is likely to be the last.

My wife downloaded “Decision Points” to her Kindle yesterday and I made the mistake last night of thinking a few pages might help me doze off and ended up reading until way past 1am. According to the Kindle gizmo-thingy, I’m 17% in — which is who knows how many pages, but thus far it’s a riveting read and much more of an autobiography than the title implies. (more…)

The L.A. Times tells us the plot is thickening:

One source close to the investigation said the couple produced the e-mails at the security checkpoint last Tuesday to show that they had been invited to the event. The Secret Service, which has interviewed the Salahis as part of its own investigation, has obtained copies of the e-mails.

On Monday night, the White House released a statement in which Jones said she did nothing to help the couple get into the dinner.

“I did not state at any time, or imply that I had tickets for ANY portion of the evening’s events,” according to the statement from Jones, whose title is special assistant to the Secretary of Defense and White House liaison. “I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening’s activities. Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come.” (more…)

I am sure that the media tour for any major film is always interesting. However, when that film skewers many of the very same outlets and people who are interviewing you, the possibility for the ride to get particularly odd increases exponentially.  

Last week I released my documentary film “Media Malpractice… How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted“ and appeared on numerous major media outlets to explain and promote the film. You can see most of those, often hilarious, appearances for yourself here.

This is a diary of sorts of my promotional tour.  (more…)

I have had the privilege of being in Tampa all week to cover Super Bowl 43, and one of the lesser reported stories of the week is the relationship between Steelers chairman and owner Dan Rooney and President Barack Obama. I wrote a quick post on the subject Friday here on Big Hollywood.

Then-Senator Obama with former Steelers star Jerome Bettis, Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr. and Hall of Fame Steelers running back Franco Harris

Earlier this week, President Obama told reporters that he is a Steelers fan. The truth is that the legendary Rooney, a lifelong Republican, was enraptured by Obama on the night of the Iowa Caucuses after the junior Senator from Chicago defeated heavily favored Hillary Clinton. An endorsement from the powerful Pennsylvanian was quick to follow. It’s no wonder that Obama gave his full-throated support to the legendary franchise in today’s big game.

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