Selena Gomez on UNICEF, Giving Back, and Growing Up

Disney stardom has created some epic successes- and fails. From Lindsay (jail, again) to Vanessa (naked pictures) to Britney (shaved head), preteen celebs all-grown up have become something to fear. There’s an important sense of reality that seems just out of reach when the going gets really good.

Regardless, there will always be famous kids.  There’s a new generation of them shining through now. With luck, they will outclass the stereotypes that precede them, starting with Selena Gomez.
Selena Gomez has lived her life in front of cameras since acting in Barney & Friends at seven years old. Now nearly nineteen, she’s most famously known as the cool, sleuthy, high-schooling Alex Russo from The Wizards of Waverly Place. This year will be the show’s final season, which means a new stage for this celeb.
She keeps up the fierce duality of acting and music like a star of today’s standards.  Beyond shooting her series finale and a new movie, preparing to tour for her third album, releasing a clothing line, reportedly dating Justin Beiber, and just being young, Selena has found a philanthropic alliance with UNICEF that seems to benefit them both.  ”Whenever I explain to people about going on my trip, I always end up saying that I left Africa gaining more than I did for those kids because I felt incredibly humble,” she says as we discuss the Celebrity Tap Project, a program that focuses on the lifesaving importance of clean water worldwide.
It turns out Selena has more balance than you’d expect from a fame-bearing teenager. She’s comfortable with acknowledging that she doesn’t know everything, but can admit that she has a lot.  There’s humility that comes with her wide-eyed hope for a more caring youth that makes it clear why UNICEF chose her to be their youngest brand ambassador to date.

What exactly does it mean to be a UNICEF brand ambassador?
They are basically using my voice and my platform to educate kids. I’m able to take trips with them. I’m able to be educated on what they’re doing. the next step of making the number zero from having 14,000 children die a day from preventable causes. That’s why I was one of the first people to become part of the Tap Project this year.
Does your philanthropy drive you to educate yourself more about what’s going on in the world?
Yes and no, the best thing about being a part of these things is that I don’t have to grow up.  I’ve made videos on YouTube and I’ve talked to my fans about it- like I had an acoustic show for UNICEF a while back where I had fans come in and ask me questions about UNICEF and I was able to say, “look I don’t know a lot of the things that I want to learn and that’s what I’m trying to encourage everyone else to do”.
I will be honest, when I went to Ghana, I had no idea what I was going to go see or what it was, I had no idea of any of it. I had my fans on Twitter ask me what Ghana is like, “what’s Ghana”, or, “where’s Ghana”, and I was able to say, you guys can Google it, look it up, or do something.  So its nice because I’m not 35 years old and I don’t know lot about all of the things that go on in the world. I’m able to grow up with my fans and able to grow up with UNICEF, having them trust me and know that I genuinely want to learn and that I genuinely want to know what’s going on.

Are these things you keep in mind when you make professional and entrepreneurial decisions?
I feel like my life is sometimes extremely superficial. And it makes that superficialness go away in my mind. Because I do love what I do. I do think that sometimes it can be very selfish and vain. I mean I’m in two hours of hair and makeup and walking red carpets and things like that. So i feel really really happy when I connect with UNICEF.  With my clothing line, we did something for Trick or Treat. We did a UNICEF tshirt- we sold two tshirts and all the funds went to UNICEF. Its fun to kind of incorporate that in what I do.
What do you want your fans to walk away with as a result of those efforts?
I would hope that they just feel good about doing something good. And just want to be better to everybody. Not just to people in foreign countries that we dont know and are less fortunate than us but somebody, your neighbor, or someone down the street, or someone at school, something.
Things your friends are doing are leaning towards philanthropy, too. Taylor Swift is also part of this program, and it seems like you are pretty good friends.
Yea, I’m so stoked that she is on, I love her. I think that’s what it’s about, obviously sharing it with everybody.  I met a girl who was twelve years old and she and her friends raised $3,000 for UNICEF because she read in a magazine that I was working with them. That blew my mind. She did car washes, she did things at her school. That does feel incredible and I hope that continues.
I read something about Justin Beiber asking his fans to donate to a clean water program for his birthday.
See that’s what I love. That’s definitely something that is really cool to have a part of anybody not just him, but everyone.
Here is Selena’s Tap Project commercial produced by Droga5.

 

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Miley Cyrus Stole Someone’s Boyfriend?

Laura Griffin, 19,  has claimed that Miley Cyrus stole her longtime boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. Laura  said Miley is the reason her five-year relationship with Liam ended.
‘He was my boyfriend and my best friend. There is no other reason why we would have broken up.’After passionately kissing Miley goodbye in the airport, Liam flew back to his family home on Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia. Within hours he had called Laura to ended their relationship.

Kelly Osbourne - A Bitch, Not A Slut!!

KELLY Osbourne would rather be a “bitch” than a “slut”.
The feisty Fashion Police star says her mother Sharon Osbourne always encouraged her to stand up for herself when she was growing up and as a result she will never let anyone walk all over her.
“Well, it’s one of two things,” Kelly said. “This is something that my mom taught me when we’re growing up in the industry and I don’t know how to word this, but you’re either a sl*t or a b***h, and I would rather be a b***h.
“I don’t want to, like, be a bulldog or anything. But I do get that from my mom. And I have this thing ever since I was a kid, like, if I don’t like someone, I just don’t like them.”
“I think it’s a thing of just being who you are and not taking any c**p from people,” Sharon added. “You stand up for what you believe in. And you stand up for your family and yourself and that’s it.”
Kelly has battled drug addiction in the past but despite her family’s pleas for her to get help, she admitted she only decided to get clean and go to rehab when she realized she “wanted to die”.
“I woke up one day and I couldn’t believe that I was hoping that if I took a bit more that I wouldn’t wake up in the morning. And that’s what really scared me. I was just like I can’t believe I have become this person,” she said.
“This is who I am. And this is what I sat in my bedroom by myself praying for. It’s a huge wake-up call. You know, I spent most of my teenage years messed up and miserable. And I had one of two options: die or sort myself out. I chose to sort myself out.”

Wendy Williams Says It Was Easy To Juggle Men

Wendy Williams - Talk show host Wendy Williams recently admitted it was "easy" for her to juggle more than one man earlier in her life. Ahead of her new dating show, "Love Triangle" Wendy revealed her own "easy" triangle with two men who knew nothing of one another.

Wendy's new show "Love Triangle" will feature contestants who're dating two men at the same time and of course Wendy helps them make a decision. Wendy says of the program, it's “an adult show” that will feature 35-year-old who’s been seeing two people, sleeping with both but neither one knows about each other” not an 18- or 21-year-old being in a love triangle.”

Wendy Williams was voted of the current season of "Dancing with the Stars" and has been married to her husband for 12 years with a 10-year old son. Does it make you wonder if Wendy's husband was one of her two lovers...?

Melissa Joan Hart Celebrates 35Th Birthday

Melissa Joan Hart - The American television star Melissa Joan Hart is celebrating her 35th birthday today (18th April 2011). Joan Hart, the star of 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch', has had a long career in show business which first began when she starred in a television commercial at the age of four.
The actress rose to prominence after guest starring in an episode of 'The Equalizer' in 1986. She auditioned for the lead role of 'Jamie Lloyd' in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers' before eventually losing out to the American actress Danielle Harris. In 1991, Hart landed the starring role on the Nickelodeon series 'Clarissa Explains It All' about a teenage girl in everyday situations. The show saw Hart nominated for four consecutive 'Young Artist Awards', winning three of them. She went on to appear in 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' before landing the biggest role of her career in the television series 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch', which lasted seven seasons on Abc and The WB. In March 2009, Hart opened a candy shop called 'Sweethearts' in Sherman Oaks, California.
Melissa Joan Hart married the musician Mark Wilkerson in June 2003. The couple filmed the ceremony in Florence, Italy, for the reality television miniseries 'Tying the Knot'.

Angelina Jolie’s Jewelry Line: “Chic and Contemporary”

You’ve seen the serious sparklers, but just what went into the creation of Angelina Jolie‘s new jewelry line, Style of Jolie? “She has been involved, every step of the way,” jeweler Robert Procop tells PEOPLE. “She wanted to create some beautiful art around jewels with the mission of helping children.” Jolie and Procop, who’s styled the actress in the past, started the project in August of 2010, creating storyboards, researching gems and metals and considering various designs. “Angelina has a very classic style. She is very chic and contemporary,” Procop explains. “[The collection] is what she enjoys wearing on the red carpet, but also what she enjoys wearing when she’s at home. It’s also what she enjoys giving as a gift.” In fact, at Christmas, Brad Pitt gifted Jolie with a bracelet similar to the the five-row white quartz tablet bracelet (above) after seeing her design. Another piece the actress particularly loves is the Angelina Jolie exceptional emerald necklace (above), containing 44 green gems totaling 103.48 carats. “It’s probably one of the finest collections of cushion emeralds ever assembled,” Procop says. “The stones are just so bright.” Though the line — which features pieces starting at $4,000 and benefits the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict — is only available to private clients at the moment, Procop hints that later this year, a more accessible retail version will hit the market. But for now, the jewels are hitting the road: after a short stint in Beverly Hills, they’ll move on to a gallery in Monaco for about two weeks. Seems they’re following in the footsteps of their jet-setting creator! Tell us: What do you think of Jolie’s jewelry line?