Top 10 Examples Of Rich and Powerful People Lending A Hand

Being rich and/or powerful is a pretty sweet deal, not only are you considered better than ordinary people by sheer virtue of having more money than them, you also don’t have to put up with any of the pesky annoyances the rest of the world deals with every day.

It’s great when we hear about celebrities cutting a check for people, but it’s rare that you hear of them actively mucking in… well, unless you read the following list of 10 celebrities who’ve done exactly that:

10. Boris Johnson

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is something of an oddity in British politics. Despite his resemblance to the overly flamboyant caricature of Hugh Grant’s ever so famous, floppy-haired simpleton, he’s managed to ascend to one of the most esteemed positions of power and respect the country has to offer. You’d expect him to spend his time in a big office sipping tea and signing papers with a comically oversized pen, not riding around London on a bike stopping crime. Yet, that is exactly what Boris did. When he saw one of his citizens being harassed, the Mayor gave chase on his bicycle, waving a metal pipe, while screaming the word “oiks.” (dailymail.co.uk)

9. Vladamir Putin

Putin is a terrifying man. Not just because he’s got an entire army, half of the world’s oil and all of its vodka under his control. He’s also a judo expert, hunter, and all around badass; no doubt capable of killing you with anything you have sitting on your desk. Usually seen either surrounded by armed guards or actively looking like he’s trying to strangle half the room with his eyes, Putin is a man who doesn’t back down from anything, including fire. When fires ravaged his precious Russian forests, Putin took to the skies personally to kick its stupid face, presumably just to prove that he could. (businessinsider.com)

8. Elvis Presley

When you’ve got a nickname like “the King” you kind of get a free pass for acting like one. But despite what frankly terrible impersonators try to tell you, Elvis wasn’t always a fat guy who wore tight white pants. In his prime, Elvis was not only able to sing sweet enough to make bees obsolete, he knew enough about kicking ass and taking names that he probably only needed bodyguards to take down notes for future Bruce Willis. For example, once upon a time Elvis was sitting in his limo on his way to a show and saw a guy getting mugged. Elvis, being awesome, jumped out of his limo, assumed a fighting stance and offered to take on everyone who wasn’t currently being given a leather sole facial. Upon seeing the most famous man in the world threatening to turn the area directly around him into a crime scene, the fight stopped and the attackers apologised and went on their way. (surroundedbyreality.com)

7. Bon Jovi

If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you owe Bon Jovi at least one drink for giving you an excuse to put your arm around a cute girl you hope isn’t your cousin and sing “Livin’ on a Prayer” in an off key drunken slur. As well as giving the world one of its greatest mullets, Mr. Jovi has also created a unique eating experience. The JBJ Soul Kitchen is a place where you only pay what you can to get a meal. If you can’t pay, you can bus tables, wash dishes or partake in any other multitude of 80’s cliché summer jobs to earn your meal instead. The JBJ Soul Kitchen basically allows anyone who’s hungry a chance to earn their dinner with good old fashioned hard work, which as we all know makes food taste at least 30% better. (jbjsoulkitchen.org)

6. Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl is like a less greasy version of Jack White, and if there’s a musical pie, he’s had his ridiculously talented and calloused fingers right up in it. With literally millions of fans around the world, you could forgive him for not directly interacting with them, but Grohl didn’t earn his place on this list for ignoring fans. When Grohl heard that two Australian miners trapped 925 meters underground requested an iPod loaded with Foo Fighters tracks, he emailed a personal message to go with it. The message included an offer of Foo tickets and a cold beer anywhere in the world. With an offer like that, it’s kind of disappointing the miners didn’t just say “the tunnel we are stuck in right now” purely to see the look on Grohl’s face. (stereoboard.com)

5. Barack Obama

Regardless of your political standing, it’s undeniable that Obama is one of the most powerful men on the face of the planet. With that in mind, he essentially lives in a gilded bubble where his every need is taken care of so he can focus on his job of being the president of America. To stay in touch with the needs and lives of the American people, Obama often reads letters he is sent. He also sometimes feels the need to personally call people (read: bank managers) and tell them to lay off. Just for a second think about that, imagine the sheer terror of being a bank manager and having the president of the United States of America call you up and tell you to stop hassling one of your customers. (slate.com)

4. Warren Buffet

Although I said cutting a check wouldn’t be enough to get a spot on this list, Buffet deserves this spot because he didn’t just cut a check. He cut a check so huge it was delivered to the bank by an 80’s game show host. Warren has pledged to give away 99% of his entire multi-billion dollar fortune, not to mention he’s also been hassling other mega rich people to do the same. He’s essentially Batman, if Batman realised money fixes things a whole lot faster than punching them while dressed like a bat. (treehugger.com)

3. Stephen King

Despite having written some of the scariest books out there, King could have probably achieved the exact same result and success by simply shipping blank pages with a picture of himself on the cover. However, looks can be deceiving and despite looking like he could easily pass for a serial killing dentist, King has no qualms about making sure Maine residents can afford to heat their homes. Perhaps because he’s the one who proved that freezing to death is massively undignified, especially if you happen to be Jack Nicholson. (cbsnews.com)

2. Johnny Depp

 

Despite having an IMDB page longer than most other actors’ Wikipedia profiles, Depp is arguably known for one role today, Captain Jack Sparrow. Regardless of whether or not you like him, his movies, or his incredibly angular face, you have to admit he’s probably a really busy guy. Yet, he’s not too busy to show up at a school in full Sparrow regalia to stage a mutiny on behalf of a child who wrote him a letter. To make it even better he actually turned up unannounced, presumably just because that’s how Jack Sparrow would do it. (dailymail.co.uk)

1. Jim Cummings

Jim Cummings may not be a name you recognise, but his voice is probably more iconic and soothing than Bob Ross painting the Statue of liberty. Being the voice of Winnie the Pooh, he lives each day knowing he literally has the ability to make a beloved childhood icon say swear words whenever he wants, a rare power he chooses not to abuse. Instead, Cummings will call children on behalf of the Make a Wish foundation (in character) and talk to them. Here’s a quote from Cummings regarding his call to a young girl with cancer: “Pooh called her, and she started to giggle. Her mother was in tears, just crying. She said that was the first time her daughter had smiled in six months.” I mean, just… wow. I have no jokes or sarcastic analogy or metaphor here, that’s seriously one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard of a human being doing. (tlc.howstuffworks.com)

by Karl Smallwood

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