Replies

re WHO contract with Hill & Knowlton:

VIDEO: 16m32s: 22 Jul: James Corbett Report: WHO Cares What Celebrities Think – #PropagandaWatch
WHO cares, that’s who! Or, more to the point, WHO wants you to care what they think. Join James for this week’s #PropagandaWatch as he peels back the layers on the WHO’s “celebrity influencer” propaganda campaign...
https://www.corbettreport.com/who-cares-what-celebrities-think-propagandawatch/

Global Citizen/WHO worldwide concert (Lady Gaga etc) is mentioned, which is run by a young Australian:

29 Jun: Variety: Global Citizen’s Hugh Evans on Jennifer Hudson’s River Cruise, a Fundraising Flood of $6.9 Billion, and Other Large and Small ‘Goals’
CEO Hugh Evans gives props to Chris Martin’s BLM dedication, Christine and the Queens’ Paris romp, and America’s $545M pledge toward a COVID-19 vaccine.
By A.D. Amorosi
Before it even hit the air, “Global Goal” had helped raise $6.9 billion from governments, entrepreneurs and foundations for COVID-19 vaccines and racial/sexual/social injustice causes. When Variety caught up with him Monday, Evans was already moving on to other philanthropic endeavors, including fall events aimed at the pre-election moment (“this is a must for democracy, to get everyone to vote”), and this morning’s announcement launching “The Juneteenth Pledge” with Pharrell Williams, Kenya Barris and Van Jones, aimed at rallying the private sector around making June 19 a paid holiday in the United States...

Q: What does it mean to get the commitment of $6.9 billion, only weeks after raising $127 Million for COVID-19 just weeks previously?

Evans: We were wracking our brain, thinking that we would be lucky if we made $250 million in this campaign. To then see 41 governments, including all G7 countries — the first time during Global Citizens existence that we managed to get them all to commit all at once — and North America, South America and my native country, Australia… it is the first time in my career this has happened. To have $1.5 billion in cash grants and a further $5.4 billion in loans and guarantees from European investment banks, it is the thing we dreamed of...
It’s mind-blowing, but it does put it into perspective when you step back and realize that actually achieving sustainable development goals and ending extreme poverty is still another $350 billion-a-year proposition over the next 10 years. It makes our contribution relatively small. We must keep our eyes on the prize and the bigger goals ahead...

Q: A number of global leaders made their presence known during “Global Goals”: Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson, Cyril Ramaphosa, Justin Trudeau. Maybe you need to stay apolitical here, but what can you say about any interaction that you had with the American government and Donald Trump? The United States did commit $545 million toward your COVID-19 relief efforts over the weekend.

Evans: We interacted with the U.S. State Department initially, and with the White House. Look, I’m a big believer in the fact that there are certain issues that must transcend politics. The reason that we have to is due to the sanctity of human life. When you’re talking about whether you can find a vaccine for everyone on the planet, there’s no room for vaccine nationalism...
The fact that the United States made the largest contribution overall — over a half-billion dollars — says a lot. Again, this is the first time all G7 countries have come together around the idea that a vaccine, once developed, should be available to all. That the U.S. put money behind that, not just rhetoric, is a huge outcome in and of itself. It shows that the U.S. will put money in an idea whose time has come...

Q: Did you get nervous when Trump announced the end of the U.S.’s relationship with the World Health Organization, with whom you’re so closely aligned?

Evans: It’s no surprise that WHO is a partner of Global Citizen. I’ve been vocal about my support for Dr. Tedros (Adhanom Ghebreyesus, inspector general of the WHO) and the United Nations. In that environment, you have to consider how you bring everyone to the table. Our motto at Global Citizen is about putting the mission first. The day we fail to do that is the day we’ll fail to succeed. We’ll get everyone to the table — somehow.
https://variety.com/2020/music/news/global-citizen-hugh-evans-concert-summit-jennifer-hudson-1234693947/

17 Jul: Sydney Morning Herald: The Melbourne charity king with Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Hugh Jackman on speed dial
During a night spent sleeping on a garbage dump in a Manila slum, Melbourne schoolboy Hugh Evans made a vow: he’d end global poverty. Two decades on, the Manhattan-based charity supremo has celebrities and politicians clamouring to help.
By Amanda Hooton
But some portion also appears to be the machinery that surrounds him as co-founder and CEO of Global Citizen, the hottest charity on earth since partnering with Lady Gaga (and her mum) in an online and globally televised concert special event called One World: Together at Home...
It raised $US127.9 million ($184 million), mostly via corporate donations, for charitable groups including the World Health Organisation’s global COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund...

***The money will go to vaccine development, virus tracking and containment efforts, strengthening health systems, and food, housing and loan assistance to those in need as a result of the pandemic...

“There are more than 2000 billionaires on the planet,” (Evans) points out. “With a net worth of multiple trillions. If they each gave at the same rate as Bill and Melinda Gates are currently giving, that in itself would unlock enough money to finance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals [which include eliminating poverty] twice over. Amazon is worth a trillion dollars; Jeff Bezos could eliminate global poverty. He could do it on his own.”...

He chose to set up in New York because of its proximity to major political and philanthropic power bases, and because of US tax concessions for advocacy organisations.
And in a decade, he’s taken the organisation from a tiny gig in a storeroom in Soho to a genuinely international organisation, that people like WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus call in moments of crisis (as he did to help spread the message of social distancing), and to which celebrities like Beyoncé, Carole King, Billie Eilish and Jay-Z regularly commit their time...
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-melbourne-charity-king-with-lady-gaga-rihanna-and-hugh-jackman-on-speed-dial-20200604-p54zmc.html

23 Jul: CMO: Why the COVID-19 crisis has elevated influencer marketing
Influencer marketing as a channel has been transformed by the crisis as consumers have turned to digital and social channels in their homes to connect. We investigate
by Brad Howarth
https://www.cmo.com.au/article/681575/why-covid-19-crisis-has-elevated-influencer-marketing/

22 Jul: Mashable: Influencers stopped caring about the pandemic. Here’s why that’s so dangerous.
by Morgan Sung
Influencers are acting like the pandemic is over. It’s not.
Jake Paul threw a massive house party last week at his Calabasas mansion amid soaring COVID-19 cases in California. Videos from the party show dozens of attendees crowded in the controversial YouTuber’s living room, with no regard for the recommended six feet of distance to limit potential virus spread. Nobody visible in the videos wore a mask...
The community of Calabasas was rightfully furious at Paul — it’s not the first, and likely won’t be the last time he’s angered his neighbors...

In an interview with WebMD, Dr. Anthony Fauci implored young people to continue social distancing, blaming them for “propagating the pandemic” by “not caring.”...

Paul isn’t the only one to ease up on social distancing. Many TikTok stars have been meeting in person to collaborate on videos...
Predictably, none of them were wearing masks in their videos, much less maintaining six feet of distance between each other. They may be getting tested before meeting up with each other, but continuing to record themselves in large groups sends a conflicting message to their often impressionable audience...
Disappointed in the lack of consideration for social distancing, some former followers are taking it to the influencers’ home turf to publicly shame them...

While the government’s rush to reopen for the sake of the economy has muddled public perception of just how dangerous the coronavirus still is, Dr. Rimoin believes that many influencers have the opportunity to stress the importance of social distancing and mask wearing...
https://mashable.com/article/influencers-stopped-social-distancing/