Celebs Stop Tweeting for AIDS; No One Cares

Billionaire has to donate last half of money needed to get them back online
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2010 8:19 AM CST
Celebs Stop Tweeting for AIDS; No One Cares
In this Aug. 8, 2010 file photo, from left, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian arrive at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, Calif.   (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Celebrities had a plan: Stay off Twitter until they raised $1 million for HIV/AIDS relief, in a campaign known as "Digital Death." Just one problem: They expected to raise the cash in a snap ... and they didn't. After six days of silence, just $450,000 had come in: Not a lot of money to someone like Kim Kardashian, who took part in the campaign and who can rake in about $10,000 for just one tweet. Their solution? Beg a billionaire pharmaceutical executive to pony up the last $500,000 needed.

Stewart Rahr did just that yesterday, allowing Kardashian and others including sister Khloe, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Seacrest, and Alicia Keys to resurrect themselves online. Why didn't the campaign work as expected? Some blamed servers crashing, others said there wasn't enough promotion, and still others believe it was a simple case of overestimating how much Twitter power the stars yield. "It's the worst mismanagement of star power I've ever seen in my life," one source tells the New York Post. Click for more, and to see a picture of Kim Kardashian's ad for the Digital Death campaign.
(More Twitter stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X