Stars Talk Haiti At The Golden Globes

“George [Clooney] doesn’t even want to be here tonight,” said director Jason Reitman in his acceptance speech last night. “He wishes he was in a soundstage setting up 20,000 phone lines for a benefit for Haiti right now.”

That was conceivably true about Clooney, who always seems to be generously tolerating such affairs. But what about the rest of Hollywood? How did it handle celebrating itself while Haiti remained in desperate straits? Respectably, as it turns out, if not brilliantly.

They pinned yellow, red, and blue ribbons to their finery to match the color of the Haitian flag; Paul McCartney, otherwise declining a red carpet interview, pointed to his lapel and mouthed “Haiti” as he walked by. They answered questions about their donations — James Cameron and Jeff Bridges both said they would be donating soon. Mickey Rourke said he had Haitian friends in New York that were going to put on a benefit and that he had offered to help.

Jeff Bridges said Sandra Bullock had told him she had made a big donation to a group helping Haiti. “Every single person here has Haiti on their mind,” Bullock told Reuters.

Penelope Cruz offered to stay longer on the red carpet to talk about Haiti, saying, “Tonight cannot just be about movies, cannot just be about what people are wearing, it has to be a lot about what’s going on in Haiti.”

What people were wearing and Haiti efforts could overlap (and not just with the unfortunate Reuters headline, “Golden Globe Fashion Fights Gloom Of Haiti, Rain.”) Several stars, including Olivia Wilde and Meryl Streep, said they would auction off their dresses (with the blessings of the designers that had lent them) to benefit Haiti.

During the ceremony itself, Nicole Kidman and a flushed Maggie Gyllenhaal made specific pitches to help out. James Cameron told Time backstage that you could chalk this all up to “liberal guilt,” but said Hollywood has “a really big heart, and we do want to make a difference.”

Haiti Tragedy In Minds Of Stars At The Golden Globes [MSNBC/Scoop]
Hollywood Makes A Pitch For Haiti At Golden Globes [Time]
Haiti Dominates Talk On Golden Globes Red Carpet [AP/Youtube]
Olivia Wilde, Meryl Streep, Others To Auction Globes Gowns To Benefit Haiti [MTV.com]
Golden Globe Fashion Fights Gloom Of Haiti, Rain [Reuters]