A Parade Of Celebs At The Clooney Foundation Awards

 

Andra Day, George Clooney, and Alicia Keys at Albie Awards.  Photo: Neil Rasmus / BFA //Vogue

The Clooney Foundation recently hosted its 2nd annual Albie Awards. The award is named after anti-apartheid hero Justice Albie Sachs. According to the Clooney's Foundation's website:

 "The Albie Awards were created to shine a protective spotlight on courageous justice defenders who are at risk - sending a message to those who abuse human rights that the world is watching."

What better way to shine the spotlight on those risking their lives for having the courage to speak up about human rights atrocities than by throwing a glitzy bash. The event was attended by a parade of A-listers wearing gowns and tuxedos whose value could probably feed a small impoverished nation. I'm always leery of foundations because so many of them are created as tax shelters for their founders. Who can blame them when tax laws have so many loopholes. And before anyone says anything, I know Amal Clooney is a barrister who works in the area of human rights. 

Out of curiosity I took at look at the foundation's website to see who's on their board of directors. It includes executives from Microsoft, Ford Foundation, and Creative Artists Agency (CAA represents George Clooney). These orgs appear to have also sponsored the shindig.

The runaway of celebrities included Viola Davis, Matt & Luciana Damon, Randy Gerber & Cindy Crawford, Julianne Moore, Rachel Weisz & Daniel Craig, AnnE Hathaway, Emily Blunt & John Krasinski, Greta Gerwig, Shaun White & Nina Dobrev, Mark Ronson, Kate Moss, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, Meryl Streep, Alicia Keys, and Donatella Versace. That's just a few of the many. You can view more here.

This year's ceremony honored individuals or groups who are out there risking their lives in the name of justice, free speech, fighting human rights abuses, etc.  To learn more about them, click here. The recipients include:

• Dr. Dennis Mukwege (Congo)
• Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammdi (Iran)
  
• Truth Hounds (Ukraine)
• Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (Syria)
• Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (Thailand)
  

Below are a few photos. Nina Dobrev looks pretty but her dress with the shorts underneath and the corset is a throwback from her Vampires Diaries show. She and Sean look like they're into corporate goth.  Randy Gerber looks pissed AF. AnnE Hathaway's dress looks like bathroom tile from a Rainforest Cafe.

 

► Side Note: Back in 2016, Amnesty International issued a report, "This is What We Die For" which reported that Microsoft, Apple, and Samsung "were responsible for the worst forms of child labor and other human rights abuses in the production of electronics".  You can read more here. While we're at it, Microsoft announced earlier this year it was investing in a cloud data center in Saudi Arabia, a country well known for their horrible record of human rights, anti free speech, anti freedom of the press, and countless other crap I'm not going to get into.  Ques for the Clooney's: Explain why you selected them to be on the board of directors? *cue the crickets*  I gotta ask the hard questions. 😕