NEW YORK — Beyonce and Madonna have been added as performers to today’s multinetwork “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon, and Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and former President Bill Clinton are among the participants.
A statement released Thursday said Beyonce would perform from London, and Madonna from New York City. The list of musical performers already includes such heavyweights as Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Keith Urban.
“It’s a big world out there, and we all have a lot of responsibility to look out for people who can’t look out for themselves,” telethon organizer George Clooney said in an MTV interview that aired Thursday night. “So what we can do is first and foremost, raise money. Period. That’s it. …
“If I thought we could all pick up shovels and go in there and help without being in the way, I think a lot of people would do that.”
An estimated 200,000 people were killed after a powerful earthquake struck Haiti last week, devastating the nation.
The two-hour telethon will be shown on all the major networks and a host of other channels. It will be broadcast from New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti.
People can begin donating even before the start of the 5 p.m. PST concert via phone and text. Viewers also can download musical performances from the show via iTunes for 99 cents. Those profits also will be donated to Haiti relief.
Also Thursday, DiCaprio announced he was donating $1 million to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, the relief effort led by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and one of the organizations benefiting from the telethon.
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