Wyclef Jean STATEMENT: Video Response To Accusations Against Yele Haiti Foundation (VIDEO)

Wyclef Jean posted a video statement on YouTube today to respond to accusations against his Yele Haiti Foundation, which has been collecting Haiti relief donations following Tuesday's massive earthquake.

A Washington Post article raised concerns about the Yele Foundation's "fiscal scrutiny," first reported by The Smoking Gun.

Apparently Yele Haiti Foundation's tax returns raised questions about how money has been spent in the past on administration and various other expenses.

In his 5:30 response, Jean discusses the history of the organization and stresses that as a native of Haiti he has "always been committed to the people of Haiti."

He states plainly, "I never would ever take money for my personal pocket when it comes to Yele. I myself have put $1 million inside of my own foundation."

He added that he was "disgusted" by the recent criticism.

WATCH WYCLEF JEAN'S PERSONAL STATEMENT HERE:

Comments

[Politika]

04:01 PM on 01/25/2010

Wyclef Jean means well maybe. His tears are really but like many of these guys who do good he feels
entitled and confuses the charity they create with themselves.
I also don't know why he has to pretend he is from the hood with the weird accent he does.
If I were him I would just give my money to Partners in Health which by the way is run by Haitians
on the ground who are mostly doctors and capable of helping right away.

[charmante]

11:45 AM on 01/22/2010

Many of Wyclef's fans who never heard about Haiti until they became associated with the entertainer assume everything in Haiti begin and end with him.

If this assumption is true, then no wonder Haiti is in the state that it is and will remain there until Haitian workers can rid themselves of this predatory elite.

I look forward to the day when the people of Haiti will no longer have to depend on self serving charitable organizations and their self serving leaders.

[InfosolutionWiz]

09:27 AM on 01/22/2010

Long Before any body gives a rats ass about the plight of people in Haiti, Wyclef Jean has been there. I attended 2 concerts in downtown Miami in 2004 and 2006. In separate cases during Wyclef performance a woman with a man translating for her interrupt Wyclef’s performance to ask him for financial help. Whyclef bring the woman on stage to tell her heart wrenching story which he pledge to help her get back on her feet. You NEVER see this on the news. I find it hard to believe that Whyclef would steal from his charity. The Big charities don’t want any competition period. The American red cross have a C+ ratings in California and a B- in Kansas according to the better business bureau. These are POOR ratings for a charity in my book. ALL of these charity skim money for personal use don’t fool yourself for a minute. MOST Non profits are poorly run and manage, 98% of them would be bankrupt if they operate for profit.

[Cloud30]

01:42 AM on 01/21/2010

Reading all the comments on here and seeing people post links I'm beginning to think that there are people from other organizations trying to ruin this Wyclef's. After all the President of the Red Cross makes hundreds of thousands...So does the President of the United Way. Unlike them Wyclef actually put a million dollars of his own money into the organization

What many of you don't seem to understand is many have pretty much accepted that Wyclef was there before this disaster and he'll be there long after. People trust him because of his track record and dedication to Haiti, that is something you'll neither be able to deny or take away from him

CNN Money looked it over and found little wrong with Wyclef's taxes. Here's the link : http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/18/news/international/wyclef_haiti/index.htm?section=money_latest&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

If people had actually read the Washington Post they would have read that they never actually completely accused him of wrong doing, saying that there may be nothing wrong. And it turns out there wasn't...it is sad that many are on here with seemingly great intentions to sabotage Wyclef. He may be guilty of lazy paper work..but The Smoking Gun are definitely guilty of poor gotcha journalism.

[sunny2009]

06:34 AM on 01/21/2010

I don't understand the need to be so defensive. What does it matter at this juncture?

Right now - - people are dying....by the thousands (possibly tens of thousands...and I am talking about after the quake - - the ones who need - help - NOW)

It doesn't matter where people contribute -- just so long as they do. If they are more comfortable with an organization that HAS paid it's taxes for the last five years...then so be it. There are plenty of organizations that have existed for decades that are helping.....

we are talking about saving lives....right now.....this minute. So no need to be so defensive. This whole thing can be sorted out later.

You state (and I quote): "CNN Money looked it over and found little wrong with Wyclef's taxes. "

uh...."little wrong"?....how about ....anyone can look at MY taxes at anytime and not only see that I have both FILED them and PAID them and you can find NOTHING wrong with them for 20+ years?

I am not in to "little wrong" -- only "NOTHING" wrong, such as myself and millions of Americans - because guess what? Those very tax dollars -- the ones we PAY -- go to help the less fortunate.
Yep! They sure do.

So...if Wyclef is really concerned about helping the less fortunate -- he should darn well be sure his taxes are being PAID!!

Right now -- it's about saving lives....not who is getting the money.....or credit.

[sunny2009]

06:36 AM on 01/21/2010

(also....that CNN article is VERY CRITICAL of Wyclef's organization)
In fact, one headline screams "Late and Lackadaisical"

The people of Haiti certainly don't need late...nor lackadaisical.....

what they need is help....and they need it NOW.

[persimmon8]

11:05 PM on 01/20/2010

Avaaz is a big grassroots international group. Avaaz mean 'voice' of the people. It is one of the international groups on the ground in every country in a grass roots way. I trust them and gave them my donation to Haiti. Check them out at avaaz.org

[rugby john]

01:27 AM on 01/22/2010

This organization is all about climate change, not helping with medical, or hunger relief in Haiti.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

07:53 PM on 01/20/2010

At Monday’s press conference, Jean and Yéle president Hugh Locke reporters that Jean founded the charity with his own money, a fact contradicted by internal Yéle documents acquired by Gawker that also suggest that a tumultuous history of the charity:

Locke said in an interview if he could not provide details on precisely when, and in what increments, Jean made his $1 million in donations. He replied, “I honestly don’t know how to break that out, and I’m not interested in doing so.” But Locke insisted that Yele was founded with Jean’s money, and that Jean has indeed put more than $1 million in Yele’s operations broadly speaking, even if the donations aren’t channeled officially through the charity—”sometimes he’ll buy a kid in the slums a scooter, and that’s a Yele contribution,” Lock said.

According to Jawal’s resignation letter, Jean and other board members contributed little money to Yéle in its first year while having the charity pay their own expenses. “I was the executive director, and I was talking about the leadership of Yele,” Jawal told Gawker in a phone interview. “It’s implied that I was talking about the board, and Jean is on the board. Wyclef has a big heart, and he regularly gave money to Haitians that he met, to pay for things like funeral expenses or what have you. But at that early stage, Yele hadn’t become the conduit for his personal giving. It wasn’t the case when I was there.”

[Cloud30]

01:28 AM on 01/21/2010

Stop smearing...this entire ordeal has already been dismissed as a non-issue.

[charmante]

12:49 PM on 01/20/2010

He paid himself 100,000.00 dollars for performing at a benefit concert that his organization put together for Haiti. Let's face it, Wyclef is way better of financially than many people in Haiti who are just scrapping by.

In a country where more than half of the population is unemployed, have you thought of how this money could be used to provide jobs with living wages and the multiplying effect this could have in the rest of the Haitian economy?

The people of Haiti has enough of those self serving "leaders"

[Cloud30]

01:29 AM on 01/21/2010

Actually...you're wrong. CNN Money and other News Organizations have already said they never found much wrong with Wyclef's record. It was mostly a case of lazy paperwork...people need to stop hearing accusations and ruining someone because of it

[charmante]

12:28 PM on 01/21/2010

I don't need CNN to interpret it the facts for me.

I can use critical thinking to analyze the facts and arrive at a logical conclusion.

[SILSM]

11:13 AM on 01/19/2010

Before I make any donation, I do my research on how each charity allocates the fund. If too high of the % is going towards administration and fund-raising, then I refrain from making a donation to that charity. That does not mean charities with high % of admin and fund-raising expenditure are necessarily sham organizations. What I really want to know is how Yele fares when compared to the other charities. Because I know that Yele is NOT alone in spending over half of the funds on admin/ops/fundraising. Before we all rush to make judgment, people need to remember: it does take money to make money, esp. in the world of non-profit organizations. JMHO.

[MizFlagPin]

11:46 PM on 01/18/2010

Repost from another thread:

So many people were so deeply moved by Wyclef's press conference. Yele's server crashed under the sheer weight of people wanting to donate. His Twitter followers shot up to nearly 1.5 million. Key points from press conference that demonstrated Yele's out-of-the box thinking and the ability to adapt and overcome:

1. Wyclef will work with gangs to get community under control and secure
2. Wyclef working with President and Prime Minister to migrate 2million out PAP
3. Set up communities outside of PAP of 100k people per community
4. Supplies coming across land from DR
5. Wyclef efforts will help other NGOs to do their work with much less chaos

[charmante]

01:21 PM on 01/20/2010

"2. Wyclef working with President and Prime Minister to migrate 2million out PAP "

The ruling elite is doing what they know how to do best and have been doing throughout the country 200 year history: putting a band aid on a problem and move on. They know very well once they are in the country side, it will be easier for them to forget all about them. Out of sight, out of mind.

Leogane a small town right outside of Carrefour feuille( Carrefour feuille is in Port-au-Prince) and believed to be the center of the January 12 earthquake has not heard a word from their "leadership" in Port-au-Prince. Aid is only starting to arrive now in the form of 125 US marines. Petit Goave which is another small town next to Leogane and believed to have suffered quite a bit from the january 12 earthquake and the epicenter of this morning aftershock have not heard a word either from their "leadership" in Port-au-Prince. The people have been left to fend for themselves. Aid is only starting to arrive yesterday.

I knew all along that the ruling elite with whom Wyclef share family ties were using him to help give this idea traction.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected all along.

[akw]

08:07 PM on 01/18/2010

I don't know if he's a shyster or just incompetent, but I wouldn't donate a dime to him!!!

Wyclef Jean's Skipping Records - Star's charity repeatedly dissolved by state of Florida after failing to file reports

JANUARY 15--Musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation has repeatedly had its corporate status dissolved for failing to file required state disclosure reports. The Florida Division of Corporations has, on four separate occasions over the past five years, sanctioned the Yele Haiti Foundation (the charity was incorporated in Florida in 1998 as the Wyclef Jean Foundation, but formally changed its name two months ago). The foundation's most recent dissolution occurred in September 2009, but was vacated a month later when the 37-year-old Jean's group filed its disclosure report. As TSG reported yesterday, the Jean foundation's records delinquency extended to the filing of its tax returns--and could make a prospective donor question whether the organizationally challenged foundation is a wise choice for disaster relief contributions. In August 2009, the group filed overdue tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007...

Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money - Haiti earthquake aid pours into group that has "enriched" singer

JANUARY 14--The Haiti earthquake has already triggered hundreds of thousands of donations to musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation, which expects to raise upwards of $1 million a day in the disaster's wake....

Read the rest:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html

[Cloud30]

01:32 AM on 01/21/2010

The Smoking Gun has now been dismissed for their poor journalism. You people would do well to see updates than continuing to spread lies

[Ouidah]

07:29 PM on 01/18/2010

I think that you are missing the point. As corruption goes, his few hundred grand is nothing compared to Haitian corruption as a whole.

We have no one else with his star power among his people. You should put your nit picking in perspective. You need to give him a free hand to help his people cope with this cosmic sized disaster.

His little skimming even if he is guilty is nothing compared to the good that he can do for his people at this point

[charmante]

07:40 PM on 01/18/2010

Haiti is not short on talent. There are a lot of cool, level headed thinkers in the Haitian diaspora who are ready to pitch in.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

10:45 PM on 01/18/2010

“by the way folks the director of Yele-Haiti, the slippery tongued obvious scamsrer, Hugh Locke, is a native of Canada and very, very white.

he is also a leading member of the (gay hating) " b'hai faith" (which many consider a cult)

Attacking him is not about race - its about fraud, waste and hypocrisy.

Give to a real NGO or Unicef, not this group.”

[akw]

08:15 PM on 01/18/2010

Are you serious? So, maybe he just skimmed a little bit off of the million he had, what's the big deal?

The man is either a really bad business manager, or he is profiting off of his foundation. Period. Excusing that by saying that he's not as bad as others is utter nonsense. There are PLENTY of honest, hard working NGO's that bust their butts for every dollar they get and they work hard to put every penny of it to good use. Wyclef Jean gives charity foundations a bad reputation, and that isn't fair to others. Quit making excuses for bad behavior!!!!! That's what got Haiti in such awful shape to begin with.

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

09:22 PM on 01/18/2010

they stated at the press conference that their goal is now to raise 1 million dollars a day.

this from a group that skimmed 400 grand off of a 1 millionj gift they got before.

This is much worse than i even expected.

[palmsflorida]

11:14 AM on 01/19/2010

I agree with your comment regarding this scam!! I was really shocked to learn that the one organization I thought was doing something for Haiti,not only in this situation but for quiet a long while, has done nothing but put get paid first!! Give to the American Red Cross!! That's where I go!!

[TainoBoy]

06:10 PM on 01/18/2010

Wyclef they did you wrong man...

[charmante]

05:23 PM on 01/18/2010

The country side used to be were most Haitians lived. So many left the countryside for Port-au-Prince because they or their parents, grand-parents were pushed out of Haiti country side. They were forced out of the country side by policies made 30 years ago by international experts who decided that economic salvation lies in manufacturing plants. For that to happen, Haiti needed a capturing labor force in the major metropolitan areas. So a whole bunch of aid policies, trade policies and political policies were implemented designed to move people out of the country side into the city.

For example, the US needing to get rid of its excess agricultural products will give "aid" to Haiti in the form of "food aid". This type of "aid" put many Haitian growers out of business as their product could not compete with the free and sometime cheap american agricultural goods flooding the Haitian market. Unable to make a living growing food, they move to Port-au-Prince.

Now that Port-au-Prince is destroyed, many Haitians unaware of the forces that got them there want to head to the country side immediately. However, those of us in the Haitian community who have a good understanding of the history that exacerbates the effects of this natural disaster are not supporting such proposals.

[MizFlagPin]

05:42 PM on 01/18/2010

Charmante, I respect your stand and the stand of those who share your view. But don't you think that if survivors camp outside of Port-Au-Prince that it will help solve the logistical nightmare faced by relief workers and aid in removing the debris to futher search for any survivors while tending to those who need care?

We went through a similar migration from the farm to the city in the south in the early and mid 1900s. I hope Haitians are offered land and money to get back on their feet. Owning land is a good foundation for generational wealth. Your situation may be very different from what we faced in the south but we do remember how we got into the city and many of us are now reclaiming land in the countryside.

[charmante]

06:00 PM on 01/18/2010

There is no infrastructure in the country side. Zero. The government is almost non existant.

The policies of the international community dictates that the country side be neglected in favor of metropolitan areas. We cannot reverse these policies overnite.

I appreciate your desire to help Haiti.

[MizFlagPin]

06:03 PM on 01/18/2010

My prayers are with you and all Haitians Charmante. Sending you much love.

[MizFlagPin]

04:57 PM on 01/18/2010

@AppealforJustice2010, I'm sorry man, I just don't have it in me today, on MLK day, to engage in tit-for-tat back and forward stuff. Just ain't feeling it man. I agree to respectfully disagree with you.

I'M SO PROUD OF WYCLEF AND YELE AND ALL THE OTHER RELIEF WORKERS ON THE GROUND.

Hold on Haiti, just hold on a little while longer.

[AppealforJustice2010]

05:02 PM on 01/18/2010

Your ignorance is astounding. To make the assumption I am a man is ignorance in its highest form. To assume I am discounting Wyclef's effort is a down right shame and brings questions to those who are looking for a clear explanation of what the NEW money is being used for.

I am one of those who GAVE to the NGO with no questions asked. I am speaking for those who are ASKING questions where their money is used for. You are one of the reasons people assume the NGO is a scam. I'm glad you don't work for Wyclef and I pray that no one reads your comments. You give the flavor the NGO is a scam and you're hiding something. AMAZING.

Maybe you ARE trying to bring doubt to the NGO, and if that's your goal then consider yourself successful.

[paganmist]

09:34 PM on 01/18/2010

Wow, talk about reading into someone's comments and twisting it.

A random poster on a message board is trying to brign doubt to the NGO? A *random poster* on HuffPo is giving this particular NGO a bad rep?

Dude. Just argue your personal point, don't try to portray that anyone who conflicts with you is trying to destroy the whole world. Have some perspective. No random poster on HuffPo can do anything to Wyclef Jean's NGO by making a supportive statement, no matter how uninformed it might be.

*rolls eyes* Get a grip.

[MizFlagPin]

05:12 PM on 01/18/2010

Whatever . . .

[MizFlagPin]

04:53 PM on 01/18/2010

OMG, Wyclef is fast approaching 1.5 million followers on Twitter. That press conference shot his numbers through the roof. YEAH!!!!!!

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

05:00 PM on 01/18/2010

celeb worship is like crack to the weak minded

[MizFlagPin]

05:12 PM on 01/18/2010

Mmmmmm . . . I see