Being On First Name Basis With Angelina Earns Hollywood's Africa-Issues Coach Sneers In D.C.
Today's LAT "Cause Celebre" column, which covers the hottest do-gooding trends that you'll soon see your favorite starlet promote in the pages of Us Weekly with a Kitson-bought t-shirt bearing a slogan like TEAM ANTI-GENOCIDE, profiles International Crisis Group senior adviser John Prendergast, Hollywood's go-to guy for Africa-related issues. Sadly, when Prendergast returns home from a trip to L.A., he finds that his peers in Washington openly sniff at the unpleasant scent of Show Business he carries back with him:
"I don't chase them," he said of his celebrity associations over lunch on a drizzly day recently at McCormick & Schmick's, a few miles from the White House. "If they track me down, it's usually because they're serious." [...]
Despite his credentials, he finds that some of his colleagues in Washington readily dismiss him once they find out about his Hollywood ties.
"It does take a toll in the snobbish Washington circles," said Prendergast. "Some people think you're not serious because you hang out with celebrities. They resent it.
"They don't understand that the only way you can make a difference is by reaching as many people as possible," he said. "People like Angelina and George Clooney are catalysts. Every time they spend an hour on a cause, it could inspire 1000 new activists. They bring fresh and intelligent discourse to the debate."
Of course, to uncover a truly dedicated celebrity acolyte like a Jolie or a Clooney, Prendergast probably has to endure dozens of Chateau Marmont lunches with those looking to attach themselves to the current cause-y hotness, patiently explaining to Lindsay Lohan that Kenya has no Brent Bolthouse-run nightclubs or reassuring Jessica Alba that no, she won't have to take her top off if she donates a voiceover to a documentary about the atrocities in the Sudan.
