Most celebrities boast about the charities they are involved with or donate to, and usually it’s just another ploy to get in the headlines. However, The Giving Back Fund used public records to compile a list of the top 12 celebrities who gave the most in 2008, according to Parade magazine.

Here are the true stars who talk the talk and walk the walk!

1. Paul Newman
HOW MUCH: $21 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: Health initiatives, education, emergency campaigns, and environmental protection (before his death in September 2008)

2. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
HOW MUCH: $13.4 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: A health clinic in Ethiopia; New Orleans redevelopment; the Armed Services YMCA

3. Mel Gibson
HOW MUCH: $6.5 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: Holy Family Church in Agoura Hills, Calif.

4. Richard Childress (former NASCAR racer)
HOW MUCH: $5 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: A pediatric trauma center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

5. Oscar De La Hoya
HOW MUCH: $3.5 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: A hospital and a charter school in Los Angeles

6. Oprah Winfrey
HOW MUCH: $2.4 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: After-school programs across the country and scholarships for students in Whitesboro, N.J.

7. Sam Waterston
HOW MUCH: $2.1 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: Refugees International; the American Institute for Stuttering

8. Yao Ming
HOW MUCH: $2 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: A fund to build earthquake-resistant schools in China

9. Patricia Comwell
HOW MUCH: $2 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: Harvard University and City University of New York

10. Barbara Streisand
HOW MUCH: $1.7 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: The Barbra Streisand Women’s Cardiovascular Research and Education Program in Los Angeles

11. Leonardo DiCaprio
HOW MUCH: $1.5 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: Community development; The Paris Review literary magazine

12. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
HOW MUCH: $1.5 million
TO CAUSES INCLUDING: The Baltimore School of the Arts; Malaria No More; The Make-A-Wish Foundation

President Bush gave Barbra Streisand, who is an outspoken critic of the President, an awkward kiss last night and she even more shockingly gave him a smooch back!

Babs was a guest Sunday night at the White House before attending the Kennedy Center Honors event.

Eeeeek!

Warning: Do not look into this photo’s eyes!

Barbara Streisand attended a charity event in Santa Monica Wednesday night. When Babs performed in Chicago last Fall, I hung out with some of the roadies who worked on her tour. They told me how wonderful Babs is to work with. Supposedly, the whole crew has to obey a long list of rules, which include making absolutely no contact with Babs whatsoever. Workers are NOT allowed to speak to Streisand or even look at her, especially in the eye. If you do, you’re fired on the spot. That is the only concert you could not pay me enough money to go backstage. They be singing the backstage blues. Boo Babs!