-Tonight, Hollywood is coming together for the special Hope for Haiti Now Telethon. The telethon was organized by George Clooney and will feature more than 130 of Hollywood’s biggest stars , who will be answering phones, performing, and raising awareness about the devastation in Haiti. The event takes place TONIGHT at 8pm EST and will air on numerous networks including MTV, E!, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, COMEDY CENTRAL, Bravo and many more.
If you don’t have a TV or cable, you can stream it online at myspace.com and also Eonline.com. Stars expected to lend a helping hand include Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Selena Gomez, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and many more. The show will also feature performances by Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Jay-Z, Dave Matthews, and many more.
MTV News caught up with George Clooney recently to talk about the event. He shared the main goal is to raise money: “That’s it … just first and foremost that we can raise a lot of money,” he said. “If I thought that we could all pick up shovels and go in there and not be in the way, I think a lot of people would do that.”
If you’d like to make a donation, you can do it online at HopeForHaitiNow.org, over the phone by calling (877) 99-HAITI, by texting the word “GIVE” to 50555 or by mail addressed to Hope for Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th St., Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA, 90017.
Music performances from “Hope for Haiti Now” will be available for purchase and download at the iTunes Store. Starting Friday, iTunes customers can exclusively pre-order the “Hope for Haiti Now” full-performance album ($7.99) and the two-hour video telecast ($1.99). Pre-orders will be delivered in the days following the telethon. Individual audio performances will also be available for purchase and download for 99 cents each in the days following the telethon. Apple, the record labels and the artists will donate their share of the proceeds to Haiti relief funds managed by “Hope for Haiti Now” charities.
Clooney said the opportunity to purchase music after the telethon will help increase the longevity of the event. “We’re gonna have 18 songs, and you’re gonna get to hear Jennifer Hudson sing a song you never heard her sing before,” he said. “John Legend is singing ‘Motherless Child’; it’s just great. We’re gonna have some amazing performances, and I think that’s gonna make it last a little longer than just a telethon.”
