It’s easy to get caught up in scandalous celebrity headlines. For the past year we have heard about little else besides cheaters and drug addicts, wife beaters and hate-mongers. That’s why all the good guys slip through the cracks. We don’t hear enough about celebrity men who have done good things because they get overshadowed by the handful of bold-faced names who are constantly causing trouble.
So the Anti-Gossip wants to take a minute to celebrate the Anti-Jerks — the guys who have contributed good to the world and to the lives of many this year. These men haven’t cheated on their wives and it is pretty unlikely that they have trashed a hotel room at the Plaza. They’re raising awareness for those who don’t have a voice, helping to find a cure for cancer and increasing the amount of good will in our world. Let’s hear it for these boys!
George Clooney
This United Nations Messenger of Peace has done more than any world citizen to raise awareness and elevate the conversation regarding the horrors happening in Darfur. When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January, Clooney wasted no time in gathering all his famous friends for a star-studded telethon to raise funds for the island nation. He spends so much time working on various causes that we don’t know how he still manages to make such awesome movies or how he always looks so darn good.
Jeff Bridges
Bridges has used the increased star power he earned by finally winning a much deserved Academy Award this year not for personal gain, but to spread a message. Bridges has been on a media blitz as the national spokesman for the Share Our Strength “No Kid Hungry” campaign, a national effort to end childhood hunger by 2015. Watch Bridges speak out on the campaign below and try to bestill your crazy heart.
Peter Facinelli
Isn’t he just the sexiest vampire dad alive (or dead)? Nevermind that he is a devoted husband to our favorite 90210 star Jennie Garth, and a loving father to three adorable daughters; he is also a tireless volunteer of his time and energy. This year alone Facinelli has participated in an online bake sale with Glad to Give in an effort to raise funds for pediatric cancer research, helped fundraise for FINCA, an organization that provides microfinancing to impoverished areas and teamed up with Dockers to party down for Habitat for Humanity. The vampire tweeny boppers don’t have anything on this grown up. Facinelli is a real man with a real good heart.
Ashton Kutcher
Demi Moore‘s husband knows how to put his celebrity where his heart is. Kutcher has been traveling the globe with his wife this year to raise awareness for the Demi and Ashton Foundation, or DNA, which raises awareness about and seeks to save child sex slaves worldwide. The pair recently announced that they would be launching a fund for victims of human trafficking. Kutcher also slipped behind the Iron Curtain on a recent trip to Russia where he worked on a project to initiate web solutions to end trafficking. He’s cute, he’s funny and he’s charitable. Demi is a lucky, lucky lady.
Matt Damon
The clean water cause owes a great debt to Matt Damon, who co-founded Water.org to bring awareness to the lack of safe water in developing countries. He recently launched the Hope in a Bottle campaign to help raise money for the group. He is also currently starring in a great PSA for Feeding America and the Ad Council to raise awareness about hunger in America. On top of all that he is a devoted husband and the dad to four daughters. We don’t like to stereotype but so far all of our men doing good things for the world also have some pretty great women standing behind them.
Sean Penn
As many celebrities and NGOs have left Haiti behind, Sean Penn has refused to give up the fight to improve the lives of the Haitian people. His J/P Haitian Relief Organization has been managing a tent city of more than 300,000 people and Penn himself has been on the ground, living in a tent and making sure that the world’s attention stays on rebuilding this nation.
Who says a good man is hard to find?
Photos by PR Photos.