This past weekend, President Obama, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton were among the thousands at the dedication of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in DC but one major celeb was missing, Oprah Winfrey.
According to one New York paper, the multi-billion-dollar media mogul has passed on events and giving to the memorial.
Despite the major fanfare this weekend, the project is reportedly still short of funds
According to the New York Daily News, Ms Winfrey had been approached more than once for a donation to the project and has repeatedly declined.
Originally asking for a donation of $1 million and receiving no amount in response, she was approached again for a lesser amount of $500,000, they report. Nothing was given.
According to the memorial’s website, the foundation is still short $6 million of its $120 million project it has spent the last 20 years fund raising.
Among its published list of ‘Dream Team’ financial supporters, Muhammad Ali, his daughter Laila Ali, Whoopi Goldberg, Harrison Ford, George Foreman, Morgan Freeman, Carlos Santana, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Sheen, Al Roker, Lionel Ritchie,Patti La Belle Dustin Hoffman and Chris Brown were all on the site’s listed ‘Dream Team’ of donators.
Under a list of ‘Major contributors,’ Bloomberg, CBS, Paramount, MTV, BET, Direct TV, and Disney were among the corporations generously supporting the memorial. Ms Winfrey’s OWN cable network was also not on the list.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD OPRAH GIVE? SHOULD OTHER CELEBS BE POINTED OUT BY THE MEDIA TOO? SHOULD REGULAR FOLKS ALSO BE PUT ON BLAST IF THEY DID NOT GIVE?
Source: Black Media Scoop
