Thanksgiving is almost here and it’s time to start thinking about your celebration plans! If you’re sick of sitting around a table with a big dead bird, Farm Sanctuary has a couple celebrity-infused events that might interest you.

The first is a NYC celebration hosted by hip-hop mogul and Def Jam Founder Russell Simmons at Tavern on the Green. The event will include a yummy vegan gourmet brunch and a special reading by Jonathan Safran Foer from his red-hot new book “Eating Animals.” Oh yeah, and I’ll be there too!

Across the country in Orland, CA, actress/advocate Daniela Sea from “The L Word” will host a compassionate Thanksgiving celebration complete with a candlelit gourmet vegan dinner, a “Feeding of the Turkeys” ceremony and a performance by punk rock pioneer Jonathan Richman.

So if you’re looking for some fun Thanksgiving plans, stop by FarmSanctuary.org and see all the events happening in your area. Happy Holidays!

- Russell Simmons sharing with the Huffington Post why he’s afraid of America’s future. Trust me – this is an article you’ll want to read. Visit HuffingtonPost.com to check out the whole thing.

We’ve been covering Michael Vick’s apologetic media blitz the past couple days — and the latest one comes to us via Russell Simmons’ hip-hop community site Global Grind. Vick wrote a blog on the site in which he reveals that it was his meetings and discussions with animal lovers — and not his prison time — that made him feel remorse for his actions. His full entry is below:

“I’m sorry. That’s the place where I need to begin. My feeling of remorse. I ain’t never written a blog before, so putting my thoughts down on paper is a challenge – however it’s a challenge I must face. I can look a 250 pound linebacker in his eyes at the line of scrimmage and have no fear. But expressing myself when I know that there are millions of people who are so angry with me, and rightfully so, is a challenge unlike any other I have faced before.

“What I did was horrendous. Awful. Inhumane. And I’ve no excuses for my actions. It makes my heart hurt now to think about what I’ve done. And I’m gonna be real honest, it took a while for me to get to this place.”

“Sitting in a prison cell didn’t make me feel remorse. It was meeting so many animal lovers, speaking with them and looking them in their eyes. Staring at them. Looking so deep into their eyes that I began to feel their pain. Allowing that pain to enter into my body is when I started to understand how bad it really was. I have been trying hard to connect with people who feel this pain,because for my whole life I was disconnected from the suffering of animals. And you might say, “come on Mike, how could you do those things to those dogs?” And you’re right…I ask myself those questions every day. What kind of person does this? How does a human-being treat dogs or any animal with such pain and cruelty? And the hard part for me is the answer to these questions. Because the answer is ME. And I am trying so hard right now to become a better person, because who I was, I am ashamed of.

“Cause see, my whole life has been numb. I was numb to the violence in my community…cause I saw it all the time, ever since I was a child. I mean, how does one grow up in a city that’s nickname is Bad Newz? You can probably guess that from the jump, ya’ know I’ve seen some bad things in my life. And football was the only way that I could escape. As a kid, I even used to go out fishing, and most of the times I wouldn’t catch a darn thing, but just needed to get away from the chaos every once in a while. So, when the commissioner called my name as the #1 draft pick in the NFL – the first time a black quarterback had ever been chosen as the #1 pick, I thought my life was all good. But, what I didn’t realize then, that I have begun to realize now, is that even though I had more money in my pocket, big cars and big houses, I was still numb. And when I say numb, I ain’t talkin about not realizing the stuff that was going on around me, it was just like I was living life asleep. However, that is still no excuse for what I did. But let’s not forget that there are still hundreds of thousands of young people growing in similar environments and seeing violence at a young age has severe consequences.

“Now that I’m trying my best to wake up, I know I have a lot of work to do. And this isn’t about trying to win a Super Bowl ring or a MVP trophy…this is about trying to save lives. I think back to when I use to play football and of course I use to see all those kids in the stands wearing #7 jerseys. And I would never want them to look up to the Michael Vick who did all of those terrible things to the dogs. I know where I need to do the most work is with all of the people around the world who continue to fight dogs. Let me be straight forward with y’all: What I did was wrong, and what you’re doing is wrong. We must stop dog fighting, and I will do everything in my power to be a voice of someone who has finally woken up from the numbness, and knows just how bad it really is. My mission now is to be a source of service to save many animals. I am working very closely with The Humane Society and will be launching a new campaign shortly. If I had one hope in life, it would be that my actions will speak louder than my words. I know it will be hard to forgive me until you see my sincerity through my actions, but I promise you and I promise myself that that day will come.

“Lastly, I accept this challenge, not of writing this blog, but of redeeming myself.”

Kim Kardashian

The TV personality recently visited South Africa and Botswana with her boyfriend, NFL running back Reggie Bush and her sister Khloe Kardashian. Bush is also a founding member of D.E.F.’s brand new offshoot, D.E.F.’s Athletes for Africa.

The Diamond Empowerment Fund is a non-profit international organization founded by Simmons in 2007, along with other individuals in the diamond and jewelry industries who are committed to the empowerment of Africa.

The fund’s mission is to raise money to support education initiatives that develop and empower economically disadvantaged people in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource.

Photo: PR Photos

Russell Simmons’

The benefit party is one of the most anticipated events of the year and helps raise money for Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation — an organization started by Simmons to connect disadvantaged youth with art programs.

The online auction includes a slew of extra special experiences, including a chance to join an intimate (vegan) dinner with Bill Clinton at Simmons’ private residence in New York on July 20. Other items include the chance to meet Deepak Chopra and Ice T, yoga lessons with Simmons, meet-and-greets with Third Eye Blind and Fall Out Boy, exclusive tickets to Coldplay, and much more.

The Art For Life Garden Benefit Party will be held on July 18th and will feature an extraordinary vegan dinner prepared by world famous chef Tom Colicchio. 

To learn more about this amazing event visit RushPhilanthropic.org!  To take part in the online auction, stop by ArtForLifeHamptons.com!

- Music master Russell Simmons showing love to Tila Tequilla on globalGrind.com.  Russell is a rockstar for animal rights and we love hearing that Tila is getting involved too. Check out the whole post at globalGrind.com!

“When we spread the word that corporate America is feeding us poison, the community will listen. We march like an army. That is why I jumped at the chance to air the banned Super Bowl ad that PETA just released. Being a vegan for the past nine years, people tell me all the time that I look ten years younger now than I did before changing my food choices and I’m not contributing to the suffering and slaughter of nine billion animals. Even though it isn’t often discussed, a little known fact is that factory farming is the number one cause of global warming, worse than all forms of transportation or any other contributor. I don’t know how else to say it but the plain fact is, people in our community are dying everyday from making unhealthy eating choices.”

“This is why I am challenging other media outlets to join Global Grind by broadcasting this PETA ad worldwide and dwarf the exposure it would have generated had it aired during the Super Bowl. Global Grind is donating media space that will give the ad at least 50 million impressions and this is just the beginning. This is just one gift that Global Grind is giving to the hip-hop community, the human family and the planet.”

- Russell Simmons explaining why Global Grind is proud to air PETA’s sexy Super Bowl ad. If you haven’t seen the salacious commercial yet, check it out HERE! 

via: vegetarianstar.com

Forget the black tie requirements and high heels! The kind of party you want to go to is the one where even Hugh Hefner would feel at ease in a smoking jacket and pajama bottoms. Thankfully, if you have $300 handy (and in this economy, who doesn’t!?), you can party like its a middle school sleepover at the Obama Pajama Party Inaugural celebration on January 18th.

Hosted by Star Wars alum Carrie Fischer, the evening will benefit the Pajama Program, a non-profit organization that delivers warm sleepwear and nurturing books to children in need, many of whom are waiting to be adopted. Expected guest include Marisa Tomei, Keira Knightly, Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, MTV VJ Lala and Fonzworth Bentley. Guests are invited to wear pajamas or black tie, nightgown or ball gown.

We’re not sure if dinner will be pizza (a traditional stable for sleepover parties), but if you’re game, a VIP table for ten is only $10,000. Trust us, you’ll be the coolest kid in school the next day if you can float that.

For more information, jump here.

For all the crazy inaugural balls happening in DC this weekend, check out the full list here.

- Music mogul and activist extraordinaire Russell Simmons discussing world peace, compassion and education. We think Russell is just grand – just grand!

Why, you ask? Well, music mogul Russell Simmons was given the I Am Hip Hop Icon award this weekend at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. The I Am Hip Hop Icon award is given each year to an artist who makes “notable contributions of outstanding significance to the hip-hop community.” But it isn’t only the hip-hop community where Russell has made outstanding significance.

Russell heads five of his own charities and also lends his name to many other wonderful organizations – including PETA and Farm Sanctuary. Ecorazzi as chatted it up with Russell at many events, including the Farm Sanctuary Gala, 6th Annual National Underwear Day Party and the Good Housekeeping’s Green Home event!

And so from all of us here at the Razz, a big pat on the back to Mr. Simmons for being both a hip-hop and philanthropic rockstar. Keep up the great work! 

via: blog.peta.org