charity (96 posts)

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Nicolas Cage clearly felt he owed one to the pirate community. Either that, or he was hoping they'd help him out with a much-needed booty haul.

The financially drained thesp and, as it happens, U.N. Ambassador on Drugs and Crime, paid a visit to Kenya this week where he met with imprisoned Somali pirates to find out what exactly is fueling the swarthy ones' increased—and increasingly dangerous—criminal activity.

And if they should have slipped him a treasure map on his way out of the prison gates, so be it.

Sadly, that was not to be. Though he didn't walk away from the meet-and-greet empty-handed, having armed himself with a new understanding of their plight.

"Then I'm in a position where I can actually make some sense and talk about it when I go back to the States where I go talk to different U.N. councils and discuss the matter," he told reporters at the Shimo-la-Tewa facility, which, incidentally, he dubbed the "warmest prison in the world."

If he gives them the Somalis the same good PR he brought to the people of Australia recently, well, we're all in luck. Still, good to know the screening process for the U.N. ambassadorships (for drugs and crime, no less) is still as rigorous as ever.

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Hey, did you hear? Pirates trump vampires. Condolences, R. Pattz.

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Edward Norton came in first in the New York City Marathon's gold medal on Sunday—in the actors, musicians and performers category, that is.

Norton finished the 26-mile race in an astonishing three hours, forty-eight minutes and one second. The 40-year-old Fight Clubber referred to his first experience as "phenomenal," participating on behalf of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, a Kenya-based charitable organization.

(Also phenomenal: overall winner Meb Keflezighi, who ran the course in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 15 seconds.)

Other celeb-marathoners included ER's Anthony Edwards, who crossed the finish line shortly after Norton, and singer Alanis Morissette, who finished just under four-and-a-half hours.

E!'s own Daily 10 host Sal Masekela ran the race as well, though he fell a bit short of his goal beating Sean "Diddy" Combs' 2003 time. After the race was through, Sal tweeted the news: "Well Tweeps, I let you down. Didn't beat @iamdiddy. Hit a wall from hell at 18. Finished around 5 hrs. Hardest thing I've ever done."

The Strokes bass player Nikolai Fraiture and The Biggest Loser record breaker Tara Costa both pounded the New York pavement as well, finishing just 26-seconds apart at the four hour, 23-minute mark.

Rumored participants Teri Hatcher and daredevil David Blaine were absent from the festivities.

Norton's next run will be on Modern Family, when the star stops by a November episode as a one-hit wonder, has-been musician.

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Check out more big stars with big hearts in our Do-Gooders photo gallery.

AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

Madonna is pulling an Oprah. 

As promised, the 51-year-old superstar returned to Malawi over the weekend to kick off the construction of her newest charitable endeavor, the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, by shoveling the first ceremonial mound of dirt on the center's site just outside the capital city of Lilongwe.

We knew those rock-hard biceps were being cultivated for good, not evil.

"Growing up in a privileged life, I took education for granted...but coming to Malawi has taught me a lot of things and I have learnt to appreciate what life gives," said Madonna, who was accompanied at the tree-planting launch by all four of her children.

"If this school is a success—and God willing, it will be—we will replicate it not only in Malawi but in other parts of the world as well."

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Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images

Could Khloé Kardashian be the next million-dollar baby?

Well, depends on how badly someone wants the chance beat the stuffing out of her.

The newlywed, sister Kim, brother Rob, stepdad Bruce Jenner and  Kourtney's boyfriend, Scott Disick, are gearing up for next month's Kardashian Charity Knock Out, in which all five will spar with whoever kicks in the highest bids to try to keep up with a Kardashian (or Jenner, or Disick) in the boxing ring.

"My first initial thought was, Are you serious?!" laughed Khloé, recalling to E! News how she felt when she first heard the idea. "But then I slowed my thoughts down and heard it was for charity. So I started asking questions, but I was still nervous.

"I mean, who willingly wants to get hit in the face with others watching?"

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Sometimes there is a good reason for LA traffic. 

Such was the case when major roads were blocked off in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon to accommodate the 30,000 participants making strides through the city for AIDS Project Los Angeles' 25th Annual AIDS Walk. 

Celebrities including Felicity Huffman, Mary-Louise Parker, Aaron Carter, Latoya Jackson and E!'s Girl's Next Door stars Crystal Harris, Kristina and Karissa Shannon, hit the streets to join the event which commemorated a quarter of a century of AIDS activism. 

The momentous fundraising event raised a whopping $3.1 million for APLA.

"Through good times and bad, the AIDS Walk is still a steadfast source of fundraising and awareness in its decades long campaign to make AIDS history," Craig R. Miller, founder and producer of the event, said.

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Brian Sokol/UNICEF via Getty Images

It's easy to forget that not everyone in Hollywood is an Ed Hardy-wearing, paparazzi-courting, kid-pimping, Twittering oversharer. In fact, for every Jon Gosselin (OK, every five Jon Gosselins, happy?), there's an Orlando Bloom.

Bloom confirmed today he was stepping up to become UNICEF's latest Goodwill Ambassador, furthering his commitment to supporting children's rights worldwide.

"I look forward to working with UNICEF as they continue to make the world a better place for children," Bloom, who previously visited Nepal, Russia and Sarajevo on behalf of the organization, said.

"UNICEF doesn't just deliver humanitarian aid, which is what they are known for all over the world. They also educate and provide tools which help women and children face challenges specific to their own lives. I responded to how UNICEF works as much as I did to the work itself. I look forward to learning more and to supporting UNICEF any way I can."

First up for Bloom: Filming a PSA on the importance of clean and accessible drinking water, which will begin airing this week.

What an elf guy.

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Orlando's not the only one spreading goodwill. Check out Angelina, Brad, Oprah and—yes—R. Pattz doing their part in our Do-Gooder Gallery!

UNHCR/ S. Malkawi

They'll never let us forget they are more than just pretty faces. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt took time out of their schedules on Friday to bring attention to the continuing plight of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees still living in Syria.

Jolie, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, and her significant other spent time with two different families in the Syrian capital of Damascus. They also met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to discuss the efforts being made toward health care and education. 

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With Friends like these, who needs reruns?

Phoebe Buffay Lisa Kudrow, with forever-linked-pal Courteney Cox by her side, last night broke out the guitar and delighted the crowd with a few bars of "Smelly Cat" at the Rock a Little Feed a Lot Feeding America charity concert.

OK, not so much broke out the guitar as had the guitar unsuspectingly foisted upon her by a goading crowd, but still.

Kudrow and Cox had made their way on stage with the express purpose of introducing Sheryl Crow, when an overeager (and possibly stuck in the '90s) audience member called out for the tune.

And while Kudrow hesitated at first, well, it's nice to surround yourself with people you know you can count on. Of which her former costar is apparently not one.

"Get her a guitar, people!" Cox yelled out.

"Is this a set up?" Kudrow asked, before giving in and entertaining the crowd.

Oh that Pheebs. As Chandler would say, could she be any more obliging?

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So where was Jennifer Aniston in all this? Appearing in our Bitter Matrimony gallery, that's where.

Ray Mickshaw / FOX

Adam Lambert is like a modern-day Braveheart.

American Idol and 19 Entertainment may be putting out his debut album, but they're not taking his creative freedom—or so he claims.

"I think there's a little bit of a misconception out in the public that people that come out of American Idol are puppetted and kind of controlled," he tells E! News exclusively. "That hasn't been my experience one bit. They've been completely supportive and collaborative with me and all the powers that be are really trying to facilitate my artistic vision."

In addition to working with A-list producers RedOne (Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning"), Linda Perry (Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Getting' Better") and Ryan Tedder (the man behind the controversial Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson tracks), Lambert is writing some of his own stuff.

"For a handful of these songs, I've gotten to write on them," he says. "So I really feel I've gotten to inject a lot of this music on the album with my own personal vocal stylings and my own lyrical content. A lot of it talks about stuff I really care about and that I find interesting, so that feels really good."

In addition to his excitement about his album's debut on Nov. 24, Lambert can't wait to see Ellen DeGeneres take a on a certain verbose judge come January…

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