The famous duo have donated over $1.3 million to charitable causes in the last year. And just where is that money going? Well according to Fox News (always a reliable source), the cash has been split between civic, religious and arts groups, including $122,500 to friend Tom Cruise’s Church of Scientology.

The biggest single contribution was to Yesha Ministries of Philadelphia. The born-again Christian based organization received $250,000. Smith donated a further $200,000 to a Christian ministry outside Los Angeles called Living Waters. JESUS!! No, I mean literally…Jesus!

Does it make YOU feel all warm inside when you hear about your favorite star’s gift-giving ways? Chime in share your thoughts!!

Impressive. Check it out below — and don’t forge to make some time for next Tuesday, November 4th to vote!

This week, PETA’s keeping up the momentum with pleas to Heidi Klum to use her star power and refuse to wear Armani after she, like Close, sported a design from the company at the Emmy’s. A letter has also been sent to Kristin Chenoweth of Pushing Daisies fame, another Emmy Armani-Wearer.

Do you think that these stars will pledge to go Armani-free until the company itself goes fur-free? Your guess is as good as mine. But one thing’s for sure: if you’re famous and you’re wearing Armani, you’re gonna get a letter from PETA. When PETA’s not happy, nobody’s happy!

Dear Tom and Katie,

Greetings from PETA, where we’ve always admired your fur-free personal style. Because you are among the most highly visible wearers of Giorgio Armani, we are obliged to alert you to a distressing situation that has arisen with the company. We’ve been in talks with Armani for the past few years, asking the designer to drop fur. We showed his senior design team PETA’s four-minute video—which documents how animals on fur farms are strangled, electrocuted, and skinned alive—and a few months later, Armani told Time magazine that his meetings with PETA, “convinced me not to use fur.” Unfortunately, he’s gone back on his word; his new collections are full of fur.

Most shockingly, his collections include fur coats for babies and kids. Please be vigilant about any packages that Armani sends for Suri, as they could include bunny fur from his toddler lines. We imagine that Suri, like other children, has a natural affinity for animals, which is why we find it shocking that Armani is not only breaking his fur-free promise but also trying to lure children into fashion derived from skinned rabbits. We also ask that you please use your considerable influence with Mr. Armani to urge him to keep his word and leave fur out of future collections and that you consider wearing fashions from some of the fur-free designers such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Stella McCartney.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Letters are one thing, but PETA also is making plans to personally confront people wearing Armani or attending his shows. This won’t be pretty. Should be interesting to see if Armani apologizes or simply deals with the insults that are sure to haunt each of his fashion launches and clientele.

The producers of the new documentary Rap Therapy, a film about using hip-hop as a tool to steer teens away from violence, have challenged Eminem and Kid Rock to a freestyle rap battle. The winner gets to donate $1 million to the charity of his choice.

Other celebrities featured in the documentary include 50 Cent, Diddy, Anne Hathaway, Fergie, and Tom Cruise.

Between womanizing, violent lyrics and fur-wearing sickness, I have to say that I’m not very attracted to this bit of news. But perhaps some good will come from these two kings of controversy facing off for charity.

via Starpulse

Continuing our efforts to cover all things green (remember that story about Weeds getting some eco-packaging?), we present to you the latest entertainment news concerning the world’s favorite illegal substance.

This one is hilarious. And you don’t even need to be high to enjoy it.

Apparently, there is a new strain of medical marijuana out there being marketed as “Tom Cruise Purple“. Why the dubious honor? The weed is reportedly so potent that it causes you to see things that aren’t really there. We all know Tom is heavy into the Scientology side of things — so we’re thinking this is probably where the joke is being directed. Of course, the actor isn’t backing the moniker — especially with his past objections to psychotropic drugs — and is getting his legal team into action. From the article,

“Word is that the actor’s lawyers are taking a serious look at the strong brand of bud after we brought it to their attention. One of Cruise’s friends found it ‘outrageous’ that licensed cannabis clubs in Northern California are selling vials of pot featuring a picture of Cruise laughing hysterically.

Staffers at several California clinics we called said they were forbidden to discuss any of the herbal varieties in their ‘inventory.’ But one weed devotee said, ‘I heard it’s the kind of pot that makes you hallucinate.’”

Awesome. We really hope Kevin Nealon’s character gets an opportunity to sample this fine bud on the next season of Weeds. And Tom? Chill out man — it’s all good.

via Celeb|bitchy

Looking for a quiet green space in LA to kick back or simply kick it for all eternity? Try the Hollywood Forever cemetery. According to one review, it’s an “urban oasis” that neighbors Paramount Studios and includes many famous resting spots of Hollywood legends. Don’t forget to pay homage at the statue of Joey Ramone. [via cityzine]

Suzanne Somers does poetry. Scroll down for “Organic Girl”.

Who are some dream eco-couples? Green Daily’s Jonathan Morgan counts down the Top 5 “made in heaven” green power couple scenarios. Tom Cruise and Al Gore have our vote.

It’s not green, but it might help you get a great overview of your favorite sites. A new site called AllTop has just launched that runs down all the latest news according to categories. We use it all the time here on the ‘raz to get an overview of what’s happening out there and think you’ll love it. Check it out.

It’s been reported that Katie Holmes uses Tom Cruises’ private jet to take monthly shopping trips to Paris for her alleged crazy ass shopping addiction. Often on these trips she’ll spend upwards to 200,000 dollars (ps. way more money than I ever have, and probably will ever see) on various articles of clothing. A quick trip to terrapass.com showed me that a round trip from Los Angeles to Paris dumps over 4000 pounds of Co2 into the environment.

Katie, I’M DYING HERE!!!!! Seriously woman-grab a catalog, go on the internet, visit your local mall…just stop “fueling” your debutante shopping habit with actual fuel.

via: popcrunch.com

The event was intended to raise money for Raising Malawi and UNICEF.  However, some members of media are claiming that this star-studded gala was more about promoting the Kabbalah Centre and the new Gucci store than spotlighting charity. Indeed, CEO of Gucci, Mark Lee, footed the bill for the evening and described it as “a celebration of the fashion house’s new store.” Still, both Madonna and Gucci say the new store had nothing to do with the real purpose of the evening: raising money for charity.

Celebrities like Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez shelled out 10,000 dollars a plate for the gourmet dinner (not veg… in case you care). There was also a silent auction with prizes like: a private soccer game with David Beckam, and dance classes with Madonna. At the end of the evening, the gala raised about 3.7 million dollars which will be split evenly between Raising Malawi and UNICEF.

Here’s what I think: Sure, Gucci was probably wildly excited to get all that great exposure. Sure, Madonna probably had some Kabbalah pamphlets or leaflets or scroll papers or whatever they use on hand at the event. I understand that people are frustrated because it was held at the U.N (which should be a non-biased forum), but it’s not like they were tying the guests up in Gucci scarves and making them chant, Like A Virgin. All they were doing was raising money for a couple great charities-which does generally require some sort of corporate sponsorship. So I say, “You famous people better rock on with your bad, charity-loving selves.”  GO TEAM FAMOUS!!!!!!!!

According to sources, both the organization Global Green USA and DiCaprio recently picked up the bike. Here’s the blurb,

The first delivery went to one of Hollywood’s most supported green organizations, Global Green. Global Green, known for such efforts as partnering with Brad Pitt to build green housing in post-Katrina New Orleans, thought the ZEV would be a perfect representation of their cause. The company’s CEO, Matt Peterson said, “The Vectrix is a fun way to travel green”. Perhaps such an endorsement is what convinced one of Hollywood’s biggest green A-listers, Leonardo DiCaprio, to go Vectrix too.

We’ve no doubt this green beauty will be on display outside Global Green’s Pre-Oscar bash. Should they decide to provide eco-friendly transportation like last year for the Academy Awards, we may even see someone like Leo ride one to the red carpet. Great publicity for a tech-heavy green scooter that hopefully will trickle down to more affordable levels.

You can cruise a video of the Vectrix here.