Wyclef Jean Pleads for Evacuation of Haiti Earthquake Survivors
In a press conference Monday, Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean advocated for the relocation of 2 million Haitians who were left homeless in Port-au-Prince by the massive 7.0 earthquake in the Caribbean nation last week. Jean also denied personally profiting from his relationship with the Yele Haiti Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million in funds to help victims of the earthquake.
Wyclef Jean (Photo: gdcgraphics at www.flickr.com/photos/gdcgraphics/)
“Port-au-Prince is a morgue,” Wyclef Jean said in a press conference in New York on Monday. The former Fugees member called for an evacuation of the nearly 2 million people left homeless in Haiti by the earthquake, many of them still struggling to survive without adequate food, water or medical care.
Wyclef Jean also slammed back against accusations he has profited from his Yele Haiti foundation, which provides humanitarian aid in the impoverished nation. TheSmokingGun.com posted documents last week implying the foundation had given Jean nearly a half million dollars for personal expenses, such as rent, and paid him to perform at one of his own charity’s benefit concerts.
“Have we made mistakes? Yes. Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefit? Absolutely not. Yele’s books are transparent and open. We have been given a clean bill of health by an external auditor every year since we started.”
An anonymous reader e-mailed us with a list of links from the website WebofDeception.com in support of the accusations against Wyclef Jean. We aren’t financial auditors, so we can’t really speak to the documents on the site, but you can check it out here if you’re so inclined.
>> Related: Rapper Wyclef Jean Urges Aid for Haiti Earthquake Victims
The Haitian people has my condoloences. The recent earthquake was a tragedy.
god bless you Wyclef for all that you do. In the end we all stand before our maker and he judges according to our deeds. For those accuseing you ask yourself ” what have I done in my life to help another human being from the heart?” Jah reads the heart.
I met Wyclef Jean 7 years ago when he was starting his charity for Haiti. I remember he gave tirelessly of his own time and money. If some money was used to fund a concert which helped get the trust of the Haitian people why not? His food is often distributed by local neighborhood Haitian volunteers thus lowering the need for as much security as outside aid organizations. Much of the expertise is donated. I think the net gain is much larger than what is shown on the IRS documents. If anyone has tried to start a non-profit , they will realize that you don’t do it perfectly the first few years, and the huge bureaucracies of organizations take much more money for office workers etc. yet seem to have all there i’s dotted and t’s crossed If he wanted to make money off of this he wouldn’t have been giving so much of his time for the past several years. He could just do his music. He makes a fortune on his music. The allegations make no sense. He is one of Haiti’s best hopes and has been for a long time.