Penn, Wyclef Spar Over Haiti

Stars trading blows
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 9, 2010 2:30 AM CDT
Celebrity Takedown: Penn, Wyclef Spar Over Haiti
Singer Wyclef Jean gestures as he leaves the electoral office after submitting the paperwork last week to run for president of Haiti in the next elections.   (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Which celebrity can call "dibs" on being the most concerned about Haiti? Sean Penn is not impressed by Wyclef Jean's presidential plans because he's heard nothing of Wyclef's involvement in the nation for the entire six months the actor has been working for the people there, notes Gawker. "I'm not accusing Wyclef Jean of being an opportunist," Penn has told Larry King, sounding very much as if he is accusing Wyclef of being an opportunist. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti.''

Wyclef's answer? Maybe he has been in Haiti, and Sean Penn just doesn't know about it. "Everything he is saying is pure speculation," grouses Wyclef. "Because he is in one little area, he can't let that be judged for 9 million people in of a country. That's very unprofessional." Wyclef's charity Yele Haiti has raised more than $9 million since earthquake but has also come under fire for financial irregularities. (More Haiti stories.)

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