by Ashley Braun. When catastrophe strikes — be it asteroids, aliens, or tornadoes — it’s always best to call in the heavyweights. Celebrities, that is. After all, Hollywood deals with epic disasters and explosions every day. After an initial drought , the devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has started to see more stars dip their toes in the waters (notably, actor Kevin Costner , director James Cameron , and faux-news host Stephen Colbert ). But Larry King really turned on the spigot when he organized and hosted the first Gulf celebrity telethon on his show Monday night. So who showed up to answer calls and console tearful donors? Such semi-recognizable people as that guy from the first season of Lost and that one retired basketball player, as well as more notable famous people like Sting, Jenny McCarthy, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and every tween girl’s favorite, Justin Bieber . Even self-proclaimed D-Lister Kathy Griffin made it to the studio! Watch a clip: Throwing stars rather than golf balls at the oil spill raised approximately $1.8 million in aid to benefit Gulf response efforts from the Nature Conservancy, United Way, and National Wildlife Federation. However, the “Hope for Haiti” telethon in January, attended by big deals Bono, Jay-Z, and Rihanna, picked up a record-breaking $58 million to support the victims of the Port-au-Prince earthquake. Maybe celebs prefer natural disasters over human-made ? If you missed the celebrethon, don’t worry. You can still help fight the oil spill and snatch a piece of Hollywood by bidding in this online auction (to ambiguously “support the waters”). Grab such hot items as American Idol concert tix or autographed suspenders that Larry King wore during the telethon. Like I said, celebs are good with disasters. ——————————————————————————————————————————————– Like what you see? Sign up to receive The Grist List, our email roundup of pun-usual green news just like this, sent out every Friday. Related Links: California’s climate law in peril, Governator pissed Must-sea TV on the oil spill from Comedy Central Gulf oil spill: A timeline of the estimates

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Celebrities tackle another tragedy with Larry King’s ‘Disaster in the Gulf’ telethon

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