When Homelessness Crosses Paths With Celebrity (Think Aniston and Paris—The Heiress, not the City)…

When we think of celebrities and homelessness, we typically think of the stars who lend their names to charity events. (For example, Hillary Swank is participating in PATH’s current charity event.)

But sometimes the stars just don’t align—at least for a couple of famous, filthy rich celebs who really should be helping people who are homeless…

Take for example, Paris Hilton, and her latest boy-toy, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos. They were partying in Los Angeles, when Niarchos offered a homeless man $100 to dump a can of soda over Nairchos’ head—in front of all of their celebrity friends. [Correction: the soda was poured on the homeless man's head... even more humiliating...] Why make such a stupid offer? Perhaps to show how rich you are… to humiliate someone who by living on the streets is already in a humiliating state… to entertain your friends?

Then you have Jennifer Aniston dealing with her own encounter with homeless people—specifically, a homeless man who broke into her Malibu pad. Not a welcoming sight. So the homeless man will no longer be homeless—at least for the next year… he will be spending that year in jail. I’m sure Aniston won’t be donating a million dollars to a local homeless shelter any time soon.

So what’s the lesson in this crossroads of celebrity life? I think for PR reasons, or just for plain moral reasons, these two celebs ought to show that they are not anti-homeless—maybe they should spend a day at a homeless shelter, or at least write a check.

(Having a homeless man pour soda over you for $100? ...Only in L.A.)