Celebs Trot 'Do They Know It's Christmas' Back Out for Ebola Victims

Bono, One Direction, Bob Geldorf and other celebs have teamed up for a thirtieth anniversary remake of the Bandaid charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” on behalf of Ebola victims. Here is the video, which premiered last night on The X Factor.

As the Guardian points out, they’ve cut some of the worst lines from the original. (“Tonight thank God it’s them instead of you,” for instance.) Still: the video opens with several seconds of footage of biohazard-suit-clad workers pulling an anonymous African woman from a fluid-soaked mattress. It’s followed by footage of celebs like Bono, One Direction and Bob Geldorf making their way through paparazzi to a recording studio. The contrast is less profound than disturbing.

And has there ever been a more condescending way to reference another land’s troubles than, “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” Do they give a good goddamn? Is it possible that perhaps Europe and America aren’t the center of the universe and maybe some people don’t celebrate Christmas and perhaps this is generally the wrong way to frame an ongoing global public health crisis? JUST SPITBALLING, HERE.