Former Rare Staff
Jimmy Kimmel gathered a supergroup of A-listers to perform a very special musical number on a recent episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
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Kimmel sat at a piano and tinkled the ivory while his good friends Kristen Bell, Ashton Kutcher, Bono, Rita Wilson, DJ Khaled, Bryan Cranston and Sean “Diddy” Combs took to stage and belted out a specially-written holiday hit “We’re Going to Hell” to encourage rich people to donate money to charity — specifically an organization called RED that battles HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
RED — co-founded U2 frontman Bono — partners with brands to raise money for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and to support HIV/AIDS grants in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia.
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But celebrities singing about their immense wealth wasn’t the only altruism encouraging segment on the episode.
Former president Barack Obama appeared a pre-taped segment, the former president noted how treatment of the virus had radically improved in recent years.
“I know we live in a time when cable news and our Twitter feeds can make it feel like cynicism is everywhere,” Obama said. “But when it comes to the fight against HIV/AIDS, there is some genuinely good news to share.”
Over half of all people living with the virus were now on life-saving medication and AIDS-related deaths had been cut in half since their peak, he said. It wasn’t down to “mysterious forces or chance” but the “countless people working for years” who “chose to make this progress,” he continued.
“When we reject cynicism and pessimism in favor of a relentless optimism that says ‘however long it takes, however lonely the fight,’ each of us can make a difference. That’s what I believe,” the former commander-in-chief proclaimed.
Later in the segment, Obama joked that people who donate to the fight could be rewarded with the chance to pilot Air Force One and a look at some secret files. “If you do, I’ll share our files on the aliens,” he said, but then an off-screen jobsworth reminded him that he was no longer able to make such promises.
“You can help us win this fight. You can help us change lives and write a future full of progress and hope, so let’s all get to work,” he concluded.
