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Celebs Who Rail Against Income Inequality Collect $225K 'Swag Bags' at the Oscars

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Hollywood stars who generate billions of dollars in revenue annually, many while railing against capitalism and income inequality, received lavish gifts — valued at more than $225,000 — Sunday at the Oscars.

Details are in about the so-called swag bags that are passed out to film’s biggest celebrities each year before the Academy Awards. It is safe to say the free gifts received by Hollywood’s elite are worth much more than stale bread and cornmeal.

According to Yahoo, this year’s swag bags contained items such as a cruise on a luxury yacht, access to a personal matchmaking service and free plastic surgery.

Insider reports the yacht cruise will take 200 guests on a 12-day trip to Antarctica.

This trip includes access to helicopters, a submarine and a luxury spa that is described as a “sanctuary.”

Other swag bag items included a 24-karat-gold bath bomb, a silk kimono robe equipped with a smartphone app (because, of course) and a gold-plated vaping pen.

The pen is finished with 24-karat-gold and was inspired by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who apparently enjoys vaping.

Two bags reportedly included DIFF brand sunglasses and Veestro plant-based meals provided by PETA. The sunglasses will apparently help celebrities “throw shade” at climate change while they abstain from eating meat.

The bags were given out by the entertainment marketing company Distinctive Assets.

Has Hollywood's hypocrisy turned you off from going to the movies?

So far, there hasn’t been word that any of Sunday’s Oscars guests refused a swag bag or demanded its contents be donated to charity.

Perhaps Hollywood’s many open borders advocates had a difficult time finding underprivileged people within the walls of their mansions and compounds. But just outside, there are an estimated 58,000 homeless people living on the streets in Los Angeles County.

With $225,000, actor Joaquin Phoenix, who used his best actor acceptance speech Sunday to attack the dairy industry, could have purchased nearly 40,000 gallons of almond milk for those in need.

“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal,” Phoenix said at the lowest-rated Oscars ever.

Perhaps at least one movie star could have exchanged his or her $225,000 in gifts to acquire toiletries and other items for the detainees sitting in migrant detention centers after entering the country illegally. After all, Hollywood has been lecturing us about the alleged inhumane conditions at these facilities since shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Related:
Fallout from Oscar Winner's Speech Gets Even Worse as Hundreds of Hollywood Stars Sign Open Letter

Presidential candidate and self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who once described bread lines as a “good thing,” currently has the support of stars including Mark Ruffalo, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley, to name a few.

Julia Reichert, co-director of “American Factory,” which was produced by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama and won the award for best documentary, included in her acceptance speech a line from the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels.

“We believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,” she said.

The hypocrisy of these and other Hollywood elites is truly astounding. While millions across the globe lack access to food and clean drinking water, they hector hard-working Americans about income inequality and capitalism before accepting gifts that could have fed and clothed entire villages. It has become quite the tradition.

Trump, meanwhile, continues to donate his entire salary to numerous charities and causes.

In November, the president announced he would donate his third-quarter salary to help fight the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

It’s good to know at least one famous American backs up his words with actions.

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Johnathan Jones has worked as a reporter, an editor, and producer in radio, television and digital media.
Johnathan "Kipp" Jones has worked as an editor and producer in radio and television. He is a proud husband and father.




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