Celebrities staff telethon for Hurricane Harvey relief
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - An award show's worth of celebrities of varying proximities to the people and neighborhoods ravaged by Hurricane Harvey gathered in a studio in Times Square Tuesday to answer telephone calls from strangers wanting to donate money to relieve, repair, and rebuild those areas under water.
"And they go: 'Oh, really big fan. Can I talk to Brad Pitt?'" Jason Alexander said. "With something in the disease-related community, you go: 'I hope this helps.' This one, you go: 'Oh, it's going to help.'"
Stevie Wonder and others performed, celebrities answered phones and attempted to stay on script, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx co-hosted the hour-long telethon called Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief carried on all four networks, commercial-free.
Foxx predicted the need for another telethon to raise money for those areas devastated by Hurricane Irma and as a native Texan admitted he found the images of flooded Houston neighborhoods with which he was once familiar particularly stirring.
"These are places that I was growing up are underwater," Foxx said.
"I think we all kind of look for a place where we can come together when there's a tragedy," Julianne Moore said.
"There is hope. Things can be rebuilt," Steve Buscemi said. "And you move forward."