Best, Worst Celeb Do-Gooders

Talk show maven edges out Tiger, Jolie

(NEWSER) - Forbes ranks the 100 most powerful celebs of 2008 (complete with tweens), and Oprah leads the pack for the second year running. Stars are judged on the size of their paychecks and media clout, including their showing on the Internet. Here's how the A-listers stacked up:

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Tiger Woods
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Beyonce Knowles
5. David Beckham

Oprah, Bono and Michael Jordan are among the most influential celebs

(NEWSER) - Oprah is not just the queen of daytime talk shows. With her wide-ranging cultural, political and philanthropic interests, she's also the most influential celebrity in a new poll from E-Poll Market Research, Forbes reports. The top celeb honchos:

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Bono
3. Michael Jordan

Taylor Swift donates $4M to Country Music Hall of Fame

(NEWSER) - Taylor Swift is donating a sizable $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the largest gift ever donated to the museum by an artist. It will fund the Taylor Swift Education Center, a new classroom and exhibit space opening in 2014, the AP reports. Swift proves that not all celebrities spend their dough on things like $12,000 Chanel bicycles and $18,500 olive trees , and Celebuzz rounds up 14 more who give freely of their money and/or their time. And while some are obvious (hello, George Clooney) many might surprise:

• Sandra Bullock: Has donated $1 million to relief organizations that give aid to those affected by 9/11, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.
• Ellen DeGeneres: Her pet cause is, ahem, animal rights and rescue organizations, and her pet food line benefits charity.

UN goodwill ambassador visited survivors yesterday

(NEWSER) - Angelina Jolie's latest humanitarian mission: Haiti's earthquake victims. The actress and UN goodwill ambassador visited with survivors hospitalized in the neighboring Dominican Republic yesterday, and a UN rep says she is traveling to Haiti today, the AP reports. During yesterday's hospital visit Jolie, accompanied by a UN rep, "spoke with several children and a Haitian woman who recognized her and requested help," a hospital spokesperson says. More»

Annual list tracks most generous of 2009; Bill and Melinda Gates are 3rd

(NEWSER) - The recession took a bite out of charitable giving last year, but some very wealthy, very generous people kept their checkbooks open. Slate delivers its annual list of the 60 biggest donors in the country, who together came up with $4.2 billion in new commitments to charity last year. The top four: More»