The legitimacy of a charity seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. I’ve been amazed at the responses to the recent post on a Scientology benefit for charity. That conversation may not have been that surprising (I’m not Scientology’s OMG #1 Fan myself!), but when I heard that charities run by Bono — one of my favorite celebs ever– George Clooney, and other famous people might not be as legit as they claim, I was pretty shocked.

Apparently, Bono’s DATA Foundation (now part of One), which works to eliminate poverty and AIDS in Africa, raised $31 million in 2006–but only used $6 million of that for charity. The rest went to transportation, security, and U2 tour tickets. Clooney’s Not on Our Watch (also founded by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and others), which fights genocide, has some shady dealings with an offshore gambling company. Wyclef Jean, Osi Umenyiora, Tyra Banks, Larry King, Gary Payton, Petra Nemcova, Magic Johnson and Dyan Cannon also seem to have skeletons in their charities’ closets; read more about them here.

So what do you think? Do a few gray areas make a charity all bad? Do any of these charities sound completely illegitimate to you, or do you think they still have redeeming qualities?

As most are aware, Naomi Campbell is a British supermodel with a penchant for cell-phone throwing and physical violence; most recently resulting in her being banned for life from British Airways. But did you also know that Campbell is passionately involved in renewable energy initiatives? So much so, that she was recently honored for her activism? We didn’t either — and because we cover this crazy world 24/7 — we’re shoveling through this massive pile of BS to figure out what in the world actually went down last week to result in such delirium.

Apparently, a fresh new organization that’s literally nowhere to be found online beyond their website, organized the gala at the United Nations last Friday. Called the International Renewable Energy Organization (IREO), their Diamond Awards for Renewable Energy event was meant as an introduction to the new org and an opportunity to honor those making strides in alternative energy.

Leonardo DiCaprio was listed as an attendee on the invite, but apparently he caught wind of the shady intentions of the honors and jumped ship. Other celebrities like Heidi Klum and Patrick Dempsey did manage to show, but we’re not sure exactly why. Joining Campbell in the honors was Petra N?mcová – but at least this is one famous fashion model that has actually helped address the issue of renewables.

The only thing we can remember Campbell doing is picking up trash as part of her community service (for assaulting an assistant), making plans to develop a casino and hotel on a coastal sanctuary for turtles in Kenya, and wearing animal fur and skins for nearly every photo opportunity. What a brilliant choice!

We wish IREO all the luck — they seem to hold promise as an organization with great intentions (even if they’re advisory board is still “Under Construction”) — but we sincerely hope they do a bit more homework before blindly throwing awards at people less than deserving. Better luck next year.

thefilmpanelnotetaker via innercity press