Ashley Judd was honored last night as part of USA TODAY’s fourth annual Hollywood Hero Awards for her work as a Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS. The 41-year-old actress was modest in her acceptance of the award, telling USA TODAY’s Ann Oldenburg, “I’m just the front woman. I was just lucky that this wonderful organization was put in my lap and I had the opportunity to be involved with them.”

Joining the celebration in honor of Judd were Morgan Freeman, Mandy Moore, Molly Sims, Eva Amurri, Omar Miller, Debra Messing, and last year’s recipient Magic Johnson. “After I received the award last year,” said Johnson, “I said, ‘The next person has to be beautiful.’ They have to care about the community, give back to the community, do it with passion, love and a big heart. When I found out it was Ashley Judd, it couldn’t have been a better person. The only thing I don’t like about her is she’s a Kentucky Wildcat fan. Sometimes they play against my Michigan Spartans.”

Another revealing tidbit from the evening? Judd is currently pursuing a masters in public policy from Harvard University. Might we one day see her in politics?

Pictures from the evening below!

Morgan Freeman and Glenn Close were honored this weekend at the SeaChange Summer Party hosted by Oceana, the largest international organization focused 100% on ocean conservation. Oceana’s various boards include actors Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Sam Waterston as well as co-founder Ted Danson.

Danson co-hosted the event which was held at the Villa di Sogni, a private residence in Laguna Beach.

Before the event, Valarie Whiting, Oceana Board Member and SeaChange Co-Chair, said, “We are thrilled that Ms. Close and Mr. Freeman will be this year’s honorees. We’re confident that the involvement of Ms. Close and Mr. Freeman will guarantee a second major SeaChange success, generating significant funding enabling Oceana to continue its crucial work toward restoring and protecting the world’s oceans.”

CTN News was there to cover the event. Above photo by CTN.

With all those celebs getting hooked on various substances, it’s nice to see some of them are getting hooked on books! 

What Book Got You Hooked is an initiative of First Book — a charity whose mission is to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. 

From now until Sept. 30th, you’ll can log on to BooksForKids.org and “vote for the state to receive 50,00 new books for children in need” by sharing a memory of the first book that made reading fun for you. You’ll also have the opportunity to make a $10 donation that would provide four brand new books for a children in need.

Stars like Selena Gomez, Morgan Freeman, John Krasinski, David Duchovny and many more have already joined the campaign and shared some of their favorite reads! 

To find out more about this project, visit BooksForKids.org!

As we’ve mentioned before, the film features the dramatic reading of letters and documents written by various characters in America’s history, both known and unknown, but the readings are performed by familiar faces like Josh Brolin, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Morgan Freeman, Rosario Dawson and Marisa Tomei, among many others. The film also features a variety of musical performances including Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Jackson Browne and John Legend.

Damon has taken on the task of reading the Declaration of Independence. How does he plan to make it interesting? “You just read it,” the actor-writer-producer told a panel audience yesterday. “Seriously. It is an incredible document. I think people either forget about it or have been taught it too early in their lives. It’s a document worth reading and rereading every single year because it’s the principles in that document that we should be loyal to and fight for and struggle for, rather than whichever government is in power.”

Damon does so much good work internationally, and it’s terrific to see him come home and gather people to together to tell these important stories.

The film will air on The History Channel later this year so in the meantime check out ThePeopleSpeak.com. It’s hard not be moved by Zinn’s vision of democracy in America brought to life.

Photo: PR Photos

As part of his work for Not On Our Watch, the group he helped co-found with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Don Cheadle, Matt Damon took time on Tuesday to visit refugee centers in Zimbabwe. The actor has been just over the border in South Africa filming the new movie The Human Factor directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as the country’s first black president, Nelson Mandela. From the article,

“I have spoken to so many people who went through so much to get to this point. It is testament to the situation across the border in Zimbabwe,” Damon told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans have fled economic collapse and dire humanitarian conditions at home, and Damon said he was “shocked and saddened” by the plight of those he spoke to.

In one camp visited by Damon, about 5,000 Zimbabweans are camped on a sandy patch strewn with rubbish and personal belongings. Some have built makeshift structures out of plastic, and others sleep on pieces of cardboard. There are about a dozen toilets and only a few taps. Damon, who patiently listened to heart-wrenching stories in the scorching heat, called the situation in Musina “untenable” and said “action has to be taken” by international and regional leaders.

To learn more about Not On Our Watch, please visit their site here.

Now, it’s just Pitt narrating the third season of e2 — and judging from his love of sustainable building and archeitecture, it’s probably something he finds quite rewarding to participate in. Not surprising, this season will also feature the work being done on the New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward to build a more sustainable community; through projects like Pitt’s Make It Right foundation and Global Green’s Holy Cross initiative.

Here’s a bit of what you’ll see in Season 3 of e2:

“Season 3 of e2 design comprises six episodes: a profile of Aga Khan’s Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, a 500-year-old dump-turned-”urban lung”; Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, who applies Nova Scotia’s design pragmatism to projects around the world; Melbourne’s transformation from a tired, vacant city into a thriving, sustainable metropolis; the inspired efforts of world-class architect Renzo Piano to integrate the natural world into his design for San Francisco’s elegant, environmentally responsive natural history museum; the efforts to rebuild New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward in a way that is environmentally, culturally and socially sustainable; and the visionary Amsterdam architects transforming recycled materials into modern design masterpieces.”

Look for the series to debut on PBS starting August 22nd. More details available here.

Morgan Freeman

“They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle,” McFerrin said. “He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point.”

He is currently being treated at a hospital in Memphis, Tenn. about 90 miles from where the accident took place. The hospital, an “acute care teaching facility”, is commonly referred to as The Med.

Lots of positive thoughts and prayers are with the Freeman family for a speedy healing process and full recovery!

via: The Huffington Post

Freeman is the founder of Plan!tNow, a non-profit storm preparedness organization that provides people and communities in high risk regions the information they need to help protect their families, lives, homes and businesses. “We are all students in the school of big storms,” says Freeman. “We have learned what happens when governments, families and communities aren’t prepared for hurricanes. We need to act now, before the next big storm hits.” Check out his video below. 

Uh Oh.

Morgan Freeman has revealed that he loves to commute to work in Hollywood — in an airplane. The 70-year-old actor says “it’s a great way to get to work” making the 1,800 mile-commute from his Mississippi home to work in Hollywood in his twin-engine, seven-seater light aircraft. From the article,

“He told Britain’s Independent newspaper: ‘I had my flight training three years ago in Clarksdale near my home and now I’m high-flying. I fly from home to Los Angeles at 23,000 feet, solo in my own Cessna 414 aircraft. ‘It’s exhilarating traveling at 270mph and a great way to get to work.’”

Let’s first assume that Freeman uses the plane to get to Los Angeles and then sticks around for several weeks to months. I’m not saying this is a good thing — since his carbon footprint is going to be much higher than if he was to fly commercial. But, this would be a hell of a lot better than if he literally “commutes” a couple times a week back and forth between Los Angeles and Mississippi!

I can understand getting your kicks in the air — I’m not saying anybody should not enjoy the gift of flying. But commuting to work in a private plane — while also talking about global warming and sustainability — just does not sit well with me.

Maybe he should get a glider…

via femalefirst