Over 83 million people tuned in last Friday night (Jan 22) to catch the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which aired live and commercial-free on several major networks and was also streamed real-time online. The effort was spearheaded by MTV Networks, actor George Clooney and rapper/singer Wyclef Jean (who is from Haiti himself) in an effort to raise awareness and relief for the troubled country of Haiti, who suffered a massive earthquake earlier this month. According to recent numbers, over $61 million in pledges were made by members of the general public. Organizers will continue to take contributions for the next six months.

Celebrities who helped out by either performing or taking phone calls from pledges (or both) included Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono from U2, Taylor Swift, Denzel Washington, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and tons more. Continue reading for more pictures and click here to peep the performances if you missed them last week.

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Jay-Z turned 40 last Friday (Dec 4) and celebrated the occasion with a really big (but VERY private) party in the Dominican Republic, thrown by his wife Beyonce and attended by big name celebrities like Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Diddy, Ne-Yo, Oprah Winfrey, Lil Wayne and more. Troubled golfer Tiger Woods was also invited but was not in attendance due to his current situation with his wife and his 10 women.

Actresss Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin from Coldplay were also missing from the crowd but sent a video message congratulating Jay-Z for seeing another year. The whole party itself was based off the Al Pacino movie “Scarface” and Beyonce and the rapper’s mom Gloria were the guests of honor.

Guests were chartered from New York via two private jets and were treated to a lavish dinner of canapés and caviar, along with Dom Perignon champagne to wash it all down. Kanye and Diddy performed and Alicia Keys sung an impromptu version of their hit single “Empire State of Mind.”

Fireworks were shot off at the ind of the night and was presented along with a 40s-style synchronized swimming display. But unfortunately you won’t be able to see any of this because no cameras were allowed and all guests were required to leave their personal cameras and mobile phones at the door to block people’s temptation of twitpicing little snippets of the shindig.

SOURCE: MARIE CLAIRE UK

R&B singer/songwriter Alicia Keys played host to her sixth annual Black Ball to benefit the “Keep A Child Alive” AIDS organization Thursday night (Oct 15) at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The huge celebrity guest list at the event included Halle Berry, Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, Nick Cannon, Tyler Perry, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige and more. Alicia performed with John Mayer at the event, and also premiered her new song “Sleeping with a Broken Heart.”

You can check out a lot more pictures from the red carpet and inside the Ball when you continue reading!

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Check out these candid shots of Diddy, T.I., Kanye West, T-Pain and more chilling either backstage or in the audience at last night’s Grammy Awards. Continue reading for more!

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