CNN – World News Actuality Presented By Claire Evren – CNN Articles & Exclusive Interviews By Claire Evren Hollywood Stars and their Charitable Acts – Sean Penn – Robin Wright – George Clooney – Angelina Jolie – Brad Pitt – Leonardo DiCaprio – Sharon Stone – Matt Damon – Richard Gere – Robert Redford…

They might be earning millions of dollars but Hollywood stars — at least a majority of them — deserve credit for their benevolence and philanthropy.

Sean Penn
Sean Penn is an American actor, film director, politician and activist. He is well known for his social. Actor Sean Penn is being honored by a group of Nobel laureateshonored for his relief work in Haiti.

The Hollywood actor has been notable for his criticism of president George W. Bush and his stance on the War on Iraq.

Penn was also closely involved with relief efforts during hurricane Katrina. He traveled to New Orleans and helped rescue people who were affected. Then in 2010, during the Haiti earthquake, Penn again traveled to the ravaged country and helped man rescue tents on site.
Penn has also traveled to Louisiana to help Hurricane Katrina victims, as well as to Iraq where he witnessed humanitarian work. Penn continues to dedicate his time to supporting various charities and continuing his activism.

Robin Wright
Robin Wright spoke out about conflict minerals and is pushing for electronic companies to ensure that the minerals used in their products do not come from mines where women’s rights are abused.

Robin Wright has supported the following charities:

21st Century Leaders
American Foundation for AIDS Research
ENOUGH Project
International Medical Corps
The Art of Elysium
The Nature Conservancy
Whatever It Takes

George Clooney

One of the most influential voices on the global platform, Clooney has been at the forefront of raising awareness about issues ranging from Indian Ocean tsunami relief to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Hollywood hunk George Clooney is known mostly for his big roles, but he also played an important part in anti-war activism and humanitarian work. Since 2008, Clooney has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace. He has been advocating for Darfur, as well as organized the Hope for Haiti telethon to raise funds for victims. The actor-director even got himself arrested in 2012 by protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy, to highlight the ongoing crisis in Darfur.

Angelina Jolie

We shouldn’t be surprised if she goes on to bag the Nobel Peace Prize given the amount of time she invests in travelling to the ‘troubled’ zones on the planet.

Angelina Jolie is a well known human rights activist who started her good deeds back in Cambodia when filming “Tomb Raider” in 2000. Jolie became a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador and then promoted to the position of a Special Envoy. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Jolie is well known for fighting to end violence against children and women in conflict zones, a cause close to her heart as seen in her directorial feature debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey.”

After meeting Brad Pitt on the set of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2005, the two established the  Jolie-Pitt Foundation and through this charity they have donated millions of dollars to humanitarian causes around the world.

Thanks to her star presence, she’s instantly recognised for her stance on global issues, humanitarian causes and her efforts in improving living conditions for refugees hasn’t gone unnoticed either.

Brad Pitt

In 2007 Brad Pitt founded The Make It Right Foundation, a non-profit providing affordable and sustainable homes to communities around the world. The idea came about when Pitt and a group of experts came together to build homes for families in need, after the devastation of New Orleans’ hurricane Katrina.

Working alongside non-profit Global Green, Pitt is pushing for the concept of green housing to be made available nationally as a housing model. He already met with President Barack Obama and politicians to help get federal funding and received an award from the U.S. Green Building in recognition for his housing concept.

Pitt and Jolie gave all of the $2 million fee of their wedding-photos-exclusive to their Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

Leonardo DiCaprio

His money-worshipping character in The Wolf of Wall Street is a far cry from the number of causes DiCaprio has taken up. Among many things, he has been a votary of measure against global warning. Also, he was adamant on meeting Russia’s Vladmir Putin in 2010 — despite two plane delays — to discuss tiger conservation.

Leonardo DiCaprio is well known for his environmental activism and has been an active supporter of many charities for decades. At age 24, Leonardo established the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation to help protect nature and wildlife around the globe, as well as raise funds for ocean and forest conservation, and climate change. He helped raise funds to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake and drives eco-friendly cars. DiCaprio has also produced many environmental educational movies such as ‘The 11th Hour.’

The United Nations named DiCaprio a U.N. Messenger of Peace with special focus on climate change.

Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone is well known for her activism and philanthropist work through her work in promoting peace in the Middle East for many years.

Sharon has been spokesperson and Global Fundraising Chairman for the American Foundation for Aids Research (amfAR) since the 90’s. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Himalayan Foundation, the Cultural Chair of online peace movement YaLa — Young Leaders, a Board Member for A Better LA, and founder of Planet Hope.

Matt Damon

Matt Damon is super protective of clean water. He founded H2O Africa, a charity providing clean water to African communities and in 2009, Damon joined forces with WaterPartners and created Water.org to provide access to clean water in all continents.

Alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, he founded Not On Our Watch, a human rights charity to help stop genocides around the world and provide humanitarian assistance and protection. Damon and Ben Affleck also took part in Don Cheadle’s poker fundraiser Ante Up For Africa. 

Richard Gere

Richard Gere has been an outspoken supporter of human rights issues since the 80s. In 1986, Gere went on a fact-finding mission in Nicaragua and Honduras where thousands of people were getting killed in armed conflicts. He then became interested in Buddhism, and has associated with the faith ever since.

After establishing The Gere Foundation, the actor has been providing relief assistance for Tibetans who have suffered from the repression of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) since the 50s. Gere also co-founded Tibet House USin 1987, which is the cultural center for the Dalai Lama.

Robert Redford

Hollywood actor and director Robert Redford is a passionate advocate of environmental protection. He has been engaged in the climate fight for decades, ever since he first organized a conference for Russian and American climate scientists in the 1980s.

Redford is an avid environmentalist and is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Redford also established The Redford Center with his son James, which aims to create films focusing on social and environmental issues like his recent: “Watershed,” which is an effort to help restore the Colorado River Basin.