Dr. Clooney, I Presume?

An interactive map of the celebrity recolonization of Africa.

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


OVERSIZED SHADES have replaced pith helmets, but the new scramble for Africa has its share of adventurers, would-be saviors, and even turf battles. As Madonna’s publicist explains, “She’s focusing on Malawi. South Africa is Oprah’s territory.”

The map below takes a lighter look at the sometimes serious, sometimes silly business of celebrity altruism. For more on how Africa became the hottest continent for A-list do-gooders like Bono and Brangelina, see here. And if you’re looking for a more sober approach, check out our recent package on human rights.

Click on a country to learn which celebrity has claimed it, and how.

 

—Photos: Affleck, Aiken, Akon: Reuters; Bono: Rémy Steinegger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Brangelina: Reuters; Branson: Kim Shiflett/NASA; Bruni-Sarkozy: Rémi Jouan; Campbell: Jesse Gross; Cheadle: Reuters; Clinton: Monika Flueckiger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Clooney: Nicolas Genin; Damon: Miguel Ángel Azúa García; DiCaprio: Colin Chau; Eggers: David Shankbone; Farrow: Pierre Holtz; Gates: Sebastian Derungs/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Geldof: Stephen Jaffe/IMF; Glover: Matt Stoller; Hayek: Reuters; Hayes: Starstock/Photoshot/Newscom; Hilton: Glenn Francis/PacificProDigital.com; Hilton (w/child): Kim Ludbrook/epa/Corbis; Jackson (w/children): Peter Morey/WENN; Jackson, Jay-Z: Reuters; Johansson: Sgt. Bryson K. Jones/US Marine corps; John: Richard Mushet; Jolie: Rémy Steinegger/WEF/swiss-image.ch; Kardashian: Glenn Francis/PacificProDigital.com; Keys: José Goulão; Lange, Legend, Liu, Lohan: Reuters; Macpherson: Manfred Werner; Madden: Reuters; Madonna: David Shankbone; Martin: Reuters; M.I.A.: Juan Soliz/PacificCoastNews.com/Newscom; Milano: Jennifer H (flickr); Oprah: Alan Light; Parker: Reuters; Portman: Makoto2007 (flickr); Princess Diana, Prince Harry: Reuters; Raekwon: Patrick Staubesand/Action Press/ZUMA Press; Simpson: Reuters; Smith: Paul K. Stanley; Turlington: Luke Ford; West: David Shankbone; Whitaker: Pierre Omidyar; Williams: Reuters

They want to control the story. Our readers don’t let them.

Powerful forces are working to control the narrative, rewrite history, and keep you in the dark. That’s why the Mother Jones newsroom is fiercely independent, not backed by billionaires or bending to political whims.

But we can’t do this work without you.

Our nonprofit newsroom is funded by our readers. Each donation helps strengthen our work, so we can continue to investigate and publish, no matter what an authoritarian-minded administration wants the media to say.

Stand with us. Make a gift today.

They want to control the story. Our readers don’t let them.

Powerful forces are working to control the narrative, rewrite history, and keep you in the dark. That’s why the Mother Jones newsroom is fiercely independent, not backed by billionaires or bending to political whims.

But we can’t do this work without you.

Our nonprofit newsroom is funded by our readers. Each donation helps strengthen our work, so we can continue to investigate and publish, no matter what an authoritarian-minded administration wants the media to say.

Stand with us. Make a gift today.

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate