newsmakers

newsmakers

Jolie-Pitt Foundation gives $500K to Joplin

JOPLIN, Mo.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are donating $500,000 from their foundation to help Joplin rebuild from the deadly tornado that struck the southwest Missouri town last month.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks says the gift from the Jolie-Pitt Foundation will go to mid- and long-term needs in the tornado-ravaged city. The Community Foundation announced the gift Friday in a news release.

Pitt grew up in southwest Missouri and says in the release that he spent much of his childhood in the area and knows the people to be “especially resilient.”

The May 22 tornado destroyed more than 8,000 homes and 400 businesses. The death toll was 151 as of Friday, including several victims who died as a result of injuries suffered in the storm.

Lady Gaga sings after Rome gay parade

ROME

Lady Gaga sang a few bars of her smash hit “Born This Way” and demanded the end of discrimination against gays as she proclaimed herself a “child of diversity” at a gay-pride rally Saturday night in the ancient Circus Maximus.

The star, whose “Born This Way” album recently topped 1 million sales in a week, delighted tens of thousands of people at a brief concert in the vast field where the ancient Roman masses would gather for spectacles.

Wearing a green wig, she played the piano and sang a few numbers. But she devoted much of her appearance after an annual European gay- pride parade to denounce intolerance and discrimination against gays and transgender people. Among the places she cited were the Middle East, Poland, Russia and Lithuania.

Lady Gaga told the crowd she is often asked, “How gay are you, Lady Gaga?”

“My answer is: ‘I am a child of diversity.’”

She also proudly cited her Italian roots — saying she was really named Stefania Giovanna Angelina Germanotta.

And she told fans her costume — a sleek black top with one bare shoulder and billowing plaid skirt — was from the last collection of Gianni Versace.

Decrying intolerance of homosexuality, Lady Gaga lamented that young people who are gay are susceptible to “suicide, self-loathing, isolation.”

Many in the crowd had participated in an hours-long parade of colorful floats and brightly costumed marchers through Rome’s historic center before the rally. The events were part of the annual Europride day to encourage gay rights on the continent.

Lady Gaga praised her audience for its “great courage” which she says inspires her.

Europride organizers hope the event will draw attention to discrimination gays face in many parts of the world. The U.S. ambassador was among those who invited Lady Gaga to Rome.

Associated Press