Celebrity Mound

BEYONCÉ KNOWLES MAKES DONATION OF $100K TO GULF COAST IKE RELIEF FUND TO AID TEXAS VICTIMS OF HURRICANE IKE

Beyoncé Knowles has made a personal donation of $100,000 to the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund benefitting victims of Hurricane Ike in the Greater Houston area who’ve lost homes, property, and jobs.

The Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund was established at the request of Houston Mayor Bill White to help fill unmet human needs for victims of Hurricane Ike primarily in Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris and Montgomery counties.

The Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund will provide aid to nonprofit organizations providing immediate relief in the area including shelter and temporary housing, food and household supplies, transportation and child care.

For more information on the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund and how to donate, please visit www.ghcf.com

Beyoncé is currently organizing a fundraising benefit for Hurricane Ike Relief through the Survivor Foundation with full details TBA

ABOUT THE SURVIVOR FOUNDATION:

The Survivor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization designed to assist persons displaced whose lives have been affected by disasters, natural or otherwise. The Survivor Foundation, a family charity supported by Beyoncé, Mathew and Tina Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Solange Knowles, also helps people in need, providing assistance to children and to those suffering from AIDS and homelessness.

Over the past few years, the Survivor Foundation has donated over two and a half million dollars just in the Houston area alone. Initiatives with the Knowles-Rowland Center, Knowles Rowland Temenos Place Apartments, Houston Habitat for Humanity, the Beyoncé Experience World Tour Food Drives, Annual Music World Cares “Holiday Carnival”, and Hurricane Katrina Relief are just a few of the community efforts of the Survivor Foundation with Beyoncé being the major contributor.

To learn more, please visit www.thesurvivorfoundation.com

Will Beyoncé make her deadline today?

The singer’s new album was due at her label Wednesday morning in order to make an announced Nov. 18 release date, but insiders tell us there have been problems.

“It’s not going to be completed,” said a source close to folks who’ve been working on the CD. “She’s got to get it out early in the fourth quarter, when there’s so much competition among artists.”

Part of the delay may be due to Beyoncé’s busy-than-ever acting schedule. The beauty spent months filming “Cadillac Records,” in which she plays Etta James, and she’s also working on the psychological thriller “Obsessed.”

Another time-consumer was a duet with Justin Timberlake – the source says the two didn’t like the way it was turning out and kept doing it over until they got it right.

Plus, claims our insider, “She clashes with Max Gousse, her father’s guy who’s involved.”

Beyoncé’s dad, Matthew Knowles, asked us, rhetorically, “How would he not be involved? He’s the vice president of my company, and she’s recording with my company.”

And Gousse is the man who convinced her to record Ne-Yo’s “Irreplaceable” – which became her biggest hit to date.

Still, the source counters, “Jay-Z encouraged Beyoncé to bring in Jay Brown and Ty Ty [Tyran Smith]” – both of whom have worked with red-hot singer Rihanna.

Beyoncé will release two singles, “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies,” this Tuesday.

The chief of Sony BMG Music, Rob Stringer, got on the phone last week to tell us, “She has an enormous number of very talented people doing whatever they can to make it the best record possible.

“Normally I would lie low, but we think the first two singles will be utterly huge. They’re two of the best songs of her career. Beyoncé is incredibly hardworking, and [the album] is 97%-98% done. It’ll be out before Nov. 20. Frankly, we think the whole record is going to be huge.”

(source)

Bling, bling!

Beyonce is finally showing off her wedding ring, and it’s worth a whopping $5 million!

The singer/actress, who tied the knot to Jay-Z in April, wore the Lorraine Schwartz stunner on the red carpet at Conde Nast’s Fashion Rocks event in NYC Friday night.

The ring features an 18-carat flawless diamond set in platinum.

(Jay-Z finally debuted his wedding ring in NYC on July 29 – three months after their secret ceremony at his NYC apartment)

n addition to her ring, Beyonce showed off her bod in a short black frock on the red carpet. She recently lost the 20 pounds she packed on to play Etta James in Cadillac Records.

Gaining weight “was so much fun,” she says in October’s British Marie Claire. But when she later landed a part in the psychological thriller Obsessed, “I had to lose it,” she laments. “I was so angry with myself. I was like, ‘D’oh! Why do you have to go through this?’”

How strict is her diet these days?

Before her Marie Claire shoot, she stipulated her catering needs: “No chips, no candy, no desserts, no junk food, no fried food.”

(source)

Looks can be deceiving. Apparently.

Yesterday, a new print ad for L’Oréal Paris’ Feria hair color surfaced, featuring a seemingly paler than usual Beyoncé Knowles. Today, the French cosmetics giant is adamantly denying that it gave its longtime spokeswoman a case of the Michael Jacksons.
“Beyoncé Knowles has been a spokesperson for the L’Oréal Paris brand since 2001,” the company said in a statement to E! News, after coming under withering online attacks suggesting the ad (on right, above) lightened more than just the hair color of the brand’s famous face.

“We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L’Oréal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin-tone in the campaign for Feria’s hair color.”

A rep for the 27-year-old Knowles declined to comment beyond the L’Oréal statement.

The ad is appearing in this month’s Elle, Allure and Essence. So far the magazines have not said anything about possible Pantone issues.

In any case, color us embarrassed.

(source)