14 DAY TRIAL // Lady Gaga may be the most overrated celebrity of the year that just ended, but at least she's using the media she's getting to champion charitable causes. She's just been named the most charitable celebrity for 2011.
Each year, DoSomething.org comes out with a Celebs Gone Good chart, which aims to show fans at home how their idols are performing in the non-showbiz related area of charity.
The organization looks at the amount of money donated by stars and, of course, the number of times he or she has spoken out on various issues during the past year.
2011 has definitely been the year of Gaga, but fans should know she doesn't stand alone. She is flanked at the top by Justin Bieber and George Clooney.
“Gaga campaigned all year for anti-bullying legislation, and she has announced the start of her own organization: the Born This Way Foundation. The charity has yet to launch, but she’s already got Barney’s New York donating 25 percent of the proceeds from her Gaga’s Workshop to the foundation,” DoSomething says.
Gaga is also very vocal on AIDS/HIV, joining forces with MAC Cosmetics to raise money for the cause.
Justin Bieber's efforts in 2011 pushed him from the tenth spot last year to the second. His most remarkable achievement is launching the Believe Charity Driver foundation, whose goal is to raise money for education and children's health.
At number three, we find actor and director George Clooney who, all these years, has been using his fame to raise awareness on various issues, including the situation in Sudan.
Nothing has changed in 2011 – except perhaps that his efforts have doubled.
“Not only is George an important contributor to the Center, but he’s an inspiration to us all,” Kerry Kennedy, the President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, says of the star.
Other notable presences elsewhere on the list include couples Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (soon to be divorced), but also teen idols Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.
See here for the full list.
Here's to a better and more charitable 2012!