James Hirsen
Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004

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  Chameleon singer Sheryl Crow and Woodstock glee clubbers Crosby, Stills and Nash have joined Bruce Springsteen et al. to participate in the soft money generating Vote for “Spare” Change concerts.

Meanwhile, one of my LCR tipsters has given me info on a “secret” fund-raising dinner for John Kerry scheduled for Thursday. The event will purportedly be held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in the People’s Republic of Santa Monica.

Stumping for the war-hero-turned-anti-war radical-turned-sensitive warmonger-turned-vet-praiser-turned-vet-basher will be Tony Bennett, Courtney Cox, Leonardo DiCaprio, Melanie Griffith, Anjelica Huston, Michael Keaton, Viggo Mortensen, Rob Reiner, Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and Sharon Stone, among others. The price to break bread with the candidate who professes to relate to ordinary Americans is five G’s a plate.

Other stars are feeling Left out, so they’ve decided to perform at what is being called a “Freedom Concert,” and I don’t think that means they’ve been “Hannitized.” Rapper Mos Def, singer-songwriter Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Robin Williams, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sean Penn will supposedly be part of the festivities, with composer Philip Glass producing.

“Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner and performer Sarah Jones will take part in a spoken-word production of “ACLU 100 Greatest Hits,” based on court decisions in which the so-called civil liberties group has been involved.

When I think about it, the event’s name doesn’t seem appropriate because the proceeds for the event Oct. 4 at Manhattan's Lincoln Center are reportedly going to benefit American Civil Liberties Union.

The Left Coast Report recognizes that most people associate ACLU with a lot of words that begin with the same letter of the alphabet. However, “freedom” is not usually one of them.

Rapper Rodney

He has a CD in production. He’s about to kick off a hip-hop career. He’s even working with Snoop Dogg.

No, it’s not the ex-veep. And it’s not his ex-boss either. It’s Rodney King, who became famous because he had a run-in with the law, a police beating ensued, it was captured on videotape, and it ended up spawning the 1992 L.A. riots.

In the rap world his experience translates into “street cred.” King told the television show “Celebrity Justice” that he planned to rap about his life as the symbol of police misconduct. You might be wondering who suggested that King pursue this career path. The idea seemingly came from his drug rehab counselor.

The Left Coast Report is pretty sure that somewhere along the hip-hop road we’ll be hearing “Can’t we all just get along?”

Cindy Crawford’s PETA Repellent

Since posing for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 10 years ago, Cindy Crawford has done a 180.

The model was part of PETA’s campaign that bore the slogan “I'd rather go naked than wear fur.” Crawford was among the many models and actresses who allowed themselves to be PETA pin-ups.

Edward Brennan, a marketer for Blackglama, told Women's Wear Daily that Crawford modeled five coats for the new campaign.

Now, not only is Crawford putting animal skins back on, apparently Richard Gere’s former PETA-promoting ex-spouse is going to be a spokeswoman for the fur company.

Blackglama gals of the past include Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Faye Dunaway, Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor.

The Left Coast Report finds it amusing that one of the prior fur-clad divas was none other than the used-to-be “Funny Girl” Barbra Streisand.

Charlize Theron Threatens a Bow-out

OK, OK. So she’s beautiful. And she’s talented. And she courageously made herself into a homely serial killing “Monster” and won an Oscar.

So now we’re supposed to feel sorry for her because fame has struck, she has loads of fans and people are hungry for info and pics?

Charlize Theron has been out grousing about her celebrity situation. She’s upset with reporters, fans and paparazzi who are interfering with her privacy and that of her boyfriend, Stuart Townsend.

She remembers a conversation she had a while back with another actor. “When I did ‘Devil's Advocate’ before I was famous I talked to Al Pacino about all of this. He said that if somebody had told him when he started out in his career that his life would be the way it is today he would've never continued,” she says.

Now Theron is threatening to leave Hollywood behind and move back to South Africa if the paparazzi don’t keep their distance. She says that the flashbulbs and camera clickers make her feel “like an animal in a cage. That's not something that's normal or should be encouraged at all.”

She adds: “Honestly, if my life was to go into that direction, I would run away from acting. I would sacrifice this because there's no way I could go through my life like that.”

The Left Coast Report has a feeling that, after hearing Theron’s threat, the paparazzi’s response will come in a single word: “Arrivederci.”

Madonna Ticked Off at Kabbalah

Sometimes celebrities are a little slow in finding out what’s going on with their own affairs.

Reports are coming in that indicate Madonna is becoming disenchanted with the people who run Kabbalah Centre.

The material girl is purportedly distressed because Kabbalah promoters have apparently been using her celebrity status to further their own material interests, according to Femalefirst.

Madonna is allegedly getting weary of being hit up for money by the center. After all, she has already given millions.

During rehearsals for one of her performances, hubby Guy Ritchie was said to have lost his temper because a Kabbalah rabbi was disrupting the proceedings. Ritchie purportedly got into a fracas with the guy.

The Left Coast Report wonders if, along with the dance routines, Madonna’s next tour will have a new feature: rabbi wrestling.

The Left Coast Report is put together by James L. Hirsen and the staff of NewsMax.

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