Celebrity Charities....WAFJ
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:18 am
Anybody that gives a dime to these fuckers should be taken out back and shot:
Lady Gaga is the latest celeb getting questioned about her charity's finances, with records showing she spent almost $2 million in expenses in 2012, while doling out just four figures in grants.
As first reported by Showbiz411.com, the Born This Way Foundation's 2012 form 990, which names Stefani Germanotta (a.k.a Lady Gaga) as its director, her mother Cynthia as its president and her father Joseph as its treasurer, claimed total revenue of $2.66 million, $1.85 million of which went to operational expenses.
So where did the money go? The 501(c)(3) organization spent $406,552 on legal expenses, $348,000 on event production, $150,000 on philanthropic consulting and $77,923 on travel.
In terms of grants, the foundation lists just one $5,000 gift in 2012.
Gaga is not the first celeb to face scrutiny over charity records. Last year, ESPN's Outside the Lines reported that Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom's charity, Cathy's Kids, had raised approximately $2.2 million since it was created in 2004 but had yet to give out a cent to cancer-related causes.
Jane Fonda faced a similar problem in 2013 when documents first published on The Smoking Gun showed her $800,000 charity hadn't made a donation since 2006.
Last year, Kanye West shuttered the Kanye West Foundation after it was revealed that while he brought in over $570,000 in 2010, all of the money went to paying “administrative fees,” and none of it was disbursed to the needy. Wyclef Jean was humiliated when it was discovered that, instead of helping the people of Haiti, his fund Yele Haiti, had squandered millions. Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Bolton have also been slammed in the past for their charities’ performance.
Bono’s campaign (which he has always said is a marketing or lobbying campaign – thus distancing it from grant giving charity rules) had an interesting 2010. Total revenue for the year was $18,738,485 (down from $35,212,269 the prior year) – with 55 percent, or $10,464,935, going to “salaries and other compensation.” Only $1,356,706 was paid out in grants, with $11,249,753 going to “other expenses” like 12 percent – or $2,338,966 - for travel, $2,620,148 for unspecified service fees, $1,202,212 in information technology and $828,804 in office expenses.
One claims it is a non-profit advocacy organization -- sort of like a marketing campaign – not a grant giver – so therefore it should be held to different standards.
In 2010, Brad Pitt's charity had total revenues of $7,288,030, but paid $2,899,219 (or 39 percent) in salaries/compensation. In addition, $304,335 was spent in fundraising and $12,905,127 was listed as “other expenses," with the bulk of those going for construction costs, homeowner maintenance and training. Only $266,204 was paid in grants.
