Comments on: Adventures in celebrity charity.

Adventures in celebrity charity.

Nomyte — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:47:16 -0800

"If I had depended on Yéle," said Diaoly Estimé, whose orphanage features a wall painting of Mr. Jean and his wife, "these kids would all be dead by now." (SLNYT)

By: griphus

griphus — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:56:13 -0800

Holy shit that is some serious embezzeling. I may have missed it in the article, but was Jean acting as CEO?

By: ocherdraco

ocherdraco — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:57:23 -0800

He was until he attempted to run for president of Haiti in 2010.

By: Forktine

Forktine — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:18:51 -0800

What a sad turn of events.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:41:41 -0800

Sad, but expected. The warning signs were all over this crap. Is Jean a con man, or just incompetent? Or both?

By: bottlebrushtree

bottlebrushtree — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:06:13 -0800

Jean, I want my $5 back

By: oneironaut

oneironaut — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:47:42 -0800

Mr. Jean, 40, writes with indignation about insinuations that he had used his charity, Yéle, for personal gain. He says he did not need to — "I have a watch collection worth $500,000"— and that doubters will someday understand "Yéle is Haiti's greatest asset and ally." Long ago, I thought his reputation was overblown, given that he was scoring hits with such obscure covers as "Killing Me Softly," and "No Woman No Cry." There was a heavy whiff of fraud about him, to me, but my friends called me a hater. Now he brags about his watch collection, and talks like every other tinpot dictator about his failed monument to himself. And he does this in regards to Haiti, which is more in need of honest leadership than almost any other country on the planet--the country which made malignant leadership an international brand. You can make Carmel-by-the-Sea a vanity project. But Haitians have had their hopes raised and dashed a thousand times, and have been abused by the wealthy, for hundreds of years. Mr. Jean will be in need of a great deal of forgiveness. I hope he has the humility to ask for it.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:20:48 -0800

"I have a watch collection worth $500,000"

THE ROCK DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR WATCH COLLECTION

By: tommasz

tommasz — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:28:34 -0800

Even the wealthy steal.

By: Edgewise

Edgewise — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:39:33 -0800

I hope he has the humility to ask for it. He won't. Given what I've heard about his charity and run for presidency, I'm inclined to give more credence to the things that Lauryn Hill has said about Wyclef.

By: kanemano

kanemano — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:21:39 -0800

The Smoking gun had this covered a while back with paperwork Part 1 Part 2 I am surprised any money at all made it to actual charitable activities

By: last night a dj saved my life

last night a dj saved my life — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:37:50 -0800

Oh man, it seemed like something was off when I bought the Yéle Haiti Earthkeepers boot and subsequently learned only $2 of the proceeds went to the charity. It's still a really good soft hiking boot but I scratched the logo off the tongue because ewwwww.

By: bardic

bardic — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 00:34:30 -0800

I also called bullshit on this grifter and got yelled at my Tweeple. So yeah, I was right and you were suckers. And hopefully this fuckwit will end up in jail.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:49:03 -0800

Terrible. The poverty and corruption that continue to plague Haiti are heartbreaking.

By: mike3k

mike3k — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 11:15:36 -0800

Not surprising. I never donated to Yele. Instead, I donated to Partners In Health (the charity that Arcade Fire supports) for Haiti. I always felt that Regine cared more deeply for Haiti than Wyclef ever did.