Yele Haiti, the self-serving charity that Wyclef Jean founded (with other peoples' money) to burnish his reputation, lay the ground for a self-aggrandizing run at the presidency of Haiti, keep his mistress employed, and pay himself generous performance fees, has finally collapsed under the weight of its own…
Remember how Wyclef Jean promised to clean up his sham charity last year after it started raising $1 million a day in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti? Guess what.
New Jersey resident Wyclef Jean was rejected late yesterday by Haiti's electoral council in his bid to become president of Haiti. Though Jean is bowing out with "a heavy heart," now he can focus on spending his charity's money.
Reuters says Wyclef Jean isn't on the list of government-approved candidates for Haiti's November presidential election, which will be finalized tomorrow. Currently, Haitians only have a measly 34 candidates to choose from. Bet none of them have rented a lion!
Wyclef's campaign for the presidency of Haiti has brought predictable scrutiny on his time at the head of Yele Haiti—the badly mismanaged charity whose problems have been cataloged here before. But there's more—he rented a lion! For charity?
Wyclef Jean announced this morning that he's resigning from Yele Haiti, his scandal-plagued charity, to focus on his bid for Haiti's presidency, which he'll formally announce on Larry King's show tonight.
Yele Haiti, the sketchy foundation that Wyclef Jean founded to help the Haitian people—which received millions in the outpouring of generosity following the wake of the earthquake there—paid Jean's mistress and personal assistant $105,000 in 2008.
Yele Haiti, Wyclef Jean's troubled charity, will get just $1 million, or 2.8%, of the more than $35 million raised so far by the Hope for Haiti Telethon that Jean co-hosted.
Tonight at 8pm is the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, which will air on many TV stations and is being livestreamed on sites across the web, including here. Please support relief and recovery in Haiti.
A planned fundraiser for Wyclef Jean's charity in 2006 was canceled in part because Jean's personal $100,000 performance fee made the event too expensive, according to internal e-mails and a source familiar with the event.
Ego and financial improprieties aside, Wyclef Jean has demonstrated a genuine desire to help the people of Haiti. To do that, it's time he acknowledge his personal foundation isn't equipped to provide disaster relief and donate to those who can.
Sanjay Rawal, Yele Haiti's founding executive director, resigned in 2005 citing Wyclef Jean and his fellow board members' "lack of financial commitment" to the organization. Here is his full resignation letter:
Yele Haiti president Hugh Locke declared the organization in "crisis" and resigned in a 2007 memo. Here it is in full.
Wyclef Jean has defended the financial irregularities of his foundation Yele Haiti by arguing he started it with his own money. However internal documents obtained by Gawker reveal that the former Fugee made no contribution during its first year.
Wyclef Jean's aspirations for his foundation, Yele Haiti, to be more than just a celebrity vanity project have long been outstripped by realities on the ground, people who've worked in Haiti for the organization tell Gawker.
Wyclef Jean has become the face of the Haitian disaster. He's there now pulling bodies out of rubble. But more indications are emerging that his charity, Yele Haiti, is not the best place for your money to go right now.
