Gulf Oil Spill Telethon Highlights: Larry King And Celebrities Fundraise $1.8 Million (VIDEO)

Monday night, a CNN telethon hosted by Larry King and Ryan Seacrest raised more than $1.81 million to aid in the Gulf oil spill relief efforts.

The two hour event featured performances and fundraising by numerous celebrities and musicians such as Sting, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kathy Griffin, Deepak Chopra, and Victoria Principal, among many others. The event also profiled some of the heartbreaking stories of residents of the Gulf coast who have lost their livelihood, like Patrick Shay who said, "I feel like I'm in a bad dream," and Dean Blanchard who said, "I've seen a lot of tough, tough men break down and cry in the last two months."

WATCH star-studded telethon raises money for the Gulf coast:

Comments

[abacus01]

07:23 PM on 06/27/2010

My heart goes out to the families that are suffering by this terrible disaster. Unfortunately, we will all suffer because of this Apocalypse. That being said, this is the sole responsibility of BP. The should seize all their assets, and pay out to all these people. I will be damned if I give one cent for BP's mess. This is totally on BP's shoulders. Supporting telethons like this means your helping BP, not have to come up with the money. Larry you should be ashamed of yourself. Fight for better things.

[dirtrunner]

01:19 PM on 06/24/2010

The show supposedly had low viewing ratings, which could explain the "paltry" $1.8mil. But give all involved some credit for actually doing something. Let's just hope that every single dollar gets put to good use down there, as intended.

[sprider]

05:44 PM on 06/23/2010

All of those celebrities and that is the most money they could raise? Pathetic, considering how much money these people get paid to do what they do.

[mamacat]

05:08 AM on 06/23/2010

Anyone donating their time and money to help others deserves our praise, as do these fine people.

However, even if they held a thousand such fund raisers, it would not offset the need for comprehensive, effective federal oversight of the oil industry and of oceanic oil drilling.

[idonthinkso]

07:03 PM on 06/22/2010

i just don't get this. the oil spill is the result of criminal negligence on the part of BP. does anyone other than BP's defense attny's doubt that at this point? why are individuals paying when bp just allocated 20 billion to reparations.

[devildog21]

05:14 PM on 06/22/2010

You'll excuse me if I don't get very excited about this. $1.8 mil is practically nothing and why the hell should anyone donate money to something that should be the exclusive responsibility of BP?! This seems to me nothing more than sending that money to BP. I don't get it Larry. What were you thinking?

Will you do a fundraiser for the Afghan war next?

[Anatole Rahman]

04:42 PM on 06/22/2010

Well played, Larry King and co.

[GlenRast]

03:18 PM on 06/22/2010

1.8 mil...A grain of sand on an oil covered beach.

[Gilliam G]

03:01 PM on 06/22/2010

This was fantastic. Thanks to Larry King Live for making it clear why these people and wildlife need out help NOW. Bureaucracy and red tape and claims payments are jammed up and taking too long. I've donated 8 songs to Global Green USA to support their efforts in the region to build a strong Green Economy in Louisiana.
I was inspired to give to Global Green USA by Riki Ott PhD

A commercial salmon "fisherma'am," Dr. Riki Ott (PhD in marine biology) experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill—and chose to do something about it. Ott retired from fishing and founded three nonprofit organizations to deal with lingering harm. She lives in Cordova, Alaska.

She donated her book "Not One Drop - betrayal and courage in the wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" to Global Green USA.

Here is what Riki says about why she is donating her work:
"In response to the Gulf oil spill, Global Green is co-chairing the local Green Collaborative -- a network of 65 organizations working to build a strong green economy in Louisiana -- to assess the greatest needs to help in the clean up, and to support those families devastated by the spill. Funds will go toward delivering healthy food and support for the fishermen and families whose lives depend on a thriving coastal economy."

That's reason enough for me to donate as well.
Please contribute if you agree and want to support Global Green.

http://gilsmusic.bandcamp.com

[BookKeepersSon]

02:43 PM on 06/22/2010

How unneccessary.

Prez O did a telethon and raised 20 bil in like 10 minutes.

Pick another cause - this one is handled money-wize.

[BrucePiasecki]

02:08 PM on 06/22/2010

That was my first blog, so tell me if I should make it even shorter [e-mail]

[BrucePiasecki]

02:00 PM on 06/22/2010

Mass Media. The Big BP Spill. Globalization. Environmentalism. Development

I think the reaction of the major media magnifiers to the BP mistakes in Corporate Governance are changing this world faster than the above media coverage allows.

I predict a new kind of global environmentalists--AVATAR ENVIRONMENTALISTS--to evolve rapidly after this spill.

For the first time since the founding of nation states, the court of public opinion on risk outweighs the court of law. Like the 20 billion dollar reserve the Obama Administration has secured from BP, this is unprecedented.

I believe that there are now many more new age envionmentalists seeking better governance practices. Like Cameron's AVATARS, they will work thru the night as we sleep. They will arm themselves with new weapons and friends in the media. EPA's scientists, and the technocrats at the Mining and Mineral agencies will seem puny in contrast.

For over 40 yeras, environmentalists fight battles in a highly professional manner, hairsplitting over rules, focusing most of their campains on a known ruler.

But an AVATAR works in reshaping our expectations. They attack our appetites.

The new environmentalist will stand taller than those from the last 40 Earth Days and from the graduates from Harvard and Yale. They will be far more immediate, and less technical. They will be pumped up on the steriods of Hollywood, mass media, and twitter.

They will have a larger forum now, full of the potential of plain truths. Please see my postings at www.ahcgroup.com for more.

[Trilby]

01:53 PM on 06/22/2010

What?!! They're FOR the oil spill????

[Vegasyankee]

01:20 PM on 06/22/2010

It was great programming and reaffirmed my faith in the fact there are some awesome people who live in this country. 1.8 million for only a couple hours!!!

[devildog21]

05:16 PM on 06/22/2010

That will essentially be going straight to BP. Why does that get you excited?

[jorjan]

12:25 PM on 06/22/2010

Excuse me but this disaster is not the kind that merits telethons and benefits. The sole responsibility for it and the damage it has caused lies at the feet of BP the entity that caused it. I am surprised the Red Cross hasn't asked for donations so they can add more money to their coffers that they never use for what it was intended for.