Celebrities make effort to brighten bleak year
LOS ANGELES — Yes, 2020 may seem like a complete fail with all the constant bad news and tragic moments. It has been filled with gloom and doom(scrolling), but some celebrities have tried to brighten a bleak year.
Here are a few examples of those efforts to make 2020 a little better for others.
Dolly’s vaccine donation
In April, country music icon Dolly Parton donated $1 million toward researching the coronavirus at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The singer’s donation was used to help fund the development of Moderna’s vaccine. Parton didn’t stop there. She starred in Dolly Parton’s “Christmas on the Square,” playing an angel in the Netflix musical. She also put out new holiday music, “A Holly Dolly Christmas,” with a sametitled TV special. And if that wasn’t enough, she had time to help Cyndi Lauper’s annual concert to combat youth homelessness, too.
Club quarantine
During the pandemic’s early stage, DJ D-Nice created a virtual remedy for anyone dealing with the lockdown blues. He hosted Homeschool at Club Quarantine on his Instagram Live, where he spun popular tunes on the turntables at his home. His sets started with just a few hundred viewers — mainly friends — then blossomed to hundreds of thousands. An array of celebs even tuned in: from Rihanna and Janet Jackson to Jimmy Fallon and Mark Zuckerberg.
Fashion’s front-line gear
When COVID-19 initially spread throughout the U.S., it resulted in a face mask shortage. Fashion designer Christian Siriano met the shortage when he and his team pivoted from crafting gowns to making masks. He reassigned his 10 seamstresses in New York to produce thousands daily for health care workers on the front lines. Separately, actors Nicole Ari Parker and her husband Boris Kodjoe gave away thousands of face masks to essential workers and first responders during the pandemic. Parker’s apparel company, Gymwrap, turned its attention from making headbands to crafting masks for the couple’s Help Our Heroes campaign.
Verzuz series
A friendly competition between music producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland on social media started off to entertain homebound fans during the pandemic. But their platform eventually evolved into a place where some of music’s biggest stars could compete against each other in the same fashion. The two Grammy-winning legends created the “Verzuz” series, which faces off two musicians in a song-againstsong battle on Instagram Live. The series has grown from a novel event to bridging music’s past and present. Some of the most epic battles have included John Legend vs. Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight vs. Patti LaBelle, Brandy vs. Monica and Snoop Dogg vs. DMX.
Gloria Estefan helps health workers
Gloria Estefan took action to help those in need. The singer and husband Emilio Estefan’s restaurant Estefan Kitchen served up homemade meals for health care workers in Miami. For a month, the restaurant prepared, packaged and delivered to workers in what Gloria Estefan said was a “small way of thanking you.” She also participated in a star-studded benefit virtual concert to honor nurses on Thanksgiving.
Waller-Bridge’s suit “Fleabag” creator and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge auctioned off her Golden Globes suit for Australia brushfire relief. She placed her Ralph & Russo pantsuit up for auction, calling it an “incredible piece of art.” The tuxedo was praised as one of the fashion hits of the red carpet. An anonymous buyer bought the suit for $27,000.
Some good news
John Krasinski wanted to create a place where people could smile. In late March, the actor tweeted to his 2.6 million-plus followers using the hashtag #SomeGoodNews, asking them to share feel-good stories that recently brought a smile to their face. He received thousands of heartwarming videos. His idea became so popular that Krasinski created a YouTube web series, “Some Good News,” focusing on positive and inspiring stories. He produced eight free episodes including an “Office” reunion, a virtual prom and online graduations. His channel garnered more than 2.5 million subscribers before he sold the web series to CBS.
Rosie raises cash for Broadway
Rosie O’Donnell brought her talk show “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” back for one night to raise more than $600,000 for virus victims. It featured numerous appearances from Broadway, including Kristin Chenoweth, Gavin Creel and Gloria Estefan. The money went to The Actors Fund.
All In Challenge
In April, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio united to offer a fan the chance to win a walk-on part in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” as part of Michael Rubin’s online charity auction, the All In Challenge.
The challenge coordinated offers by celebrities and athletes to raise funds to feed those in need during the
pandemic.
Waititi’s celeb reading
Filmmaker Taika Waititi led a celebrity read-along of Roald Dahl’s novel “James and the Giant Peach.” He teamed up with the Roald Dahl Story Company to raise money for Partners in Health, a medical and social justice organization fighting COVID-19 and supporting public health systems in vulnerable areas around the world. Those joining Waititi included Meryl Streep, Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Ryan Reynolds, Mindy Kaling, Benedict Cumberbatch and Lupita Nyong’o, all reading and performing characters in the story from their homes.