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

Jada Pinkett Smith arrived at the Chicago International Film Festival at the AMC River East 21 with actor Jason Clarke for their movie premiere last night. But this time Jada wasn’t acting — she was making her directorial debut in the saucy film The Human Contract.

She was wearing a long black coat and did interviews with Clarke by her side. It wasn’t until the end of the red carpet that Jada took off her coat and let reporters sneak a peak at her black sweater, pants and boots underneath. She talked to us about working with her husband Will Smith on the film The Human Contract as well as balancing her career and motherhood.

BG: What inspired the story line for the movie The Human Contract?

JP: The character Julian [played by Jason Clark] did. I really thought of this guy in my mind and the story grew out of this man that I wanted to explore.

BG: Your husband Will Smith worked on the movie as a producer. How was it working with him on the movie?

JP: Hard. Well, in this capacity. It’s not always hard but being a first time director, it made him nervous. As a husband, you know you want to protect and support. We are very extremely two different filmmakers. Sometimes you just have to fall back and allow a individual to be their own creative beingness and it take a little time to figure that out. But we did and we got there and it was a great learning experience for us both — going through this process.

BG: How do you juggle motherhood and your career?

JP: You know you just put one foot in front of the other and you just make it happen and we are very supportive of each other and just stay very spiritually armored so I can do whatever is necessary.

 

Talk about an impressive roster of some fabulous women! Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler and Candice Bergen are ALL in a remake of the 1939 flick The Women.

They rolled out the red carpet last night for the ladies at Mann Village Theater for their Los Angeles premiere, but no sign of Midler.

According to Imdb.com the movie is about a rich New Yorker who leaves her cheating husband and bonds with other society women at a resort.

Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish hosted the 10th annual White Tie and Tiara Ball to Benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation yesterday in Windsor, UK.

Hollywood power was in full effect with celebs such as Orlando Bloom, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Bill Clinton, Rod Stewart, Mischa Barton, Elizabeth Hurley, Elle Macpherson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Naomi Campbell, Natalie Imbruglia and Jonathan Rhys Meyers all attending the gala.

        

Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett took their kids Willow, Jaden and Trey to the Kit Kittredge: An American Girl premiere on Saturday night.

Even though Will’s sons look a little less than thrilled to be at the girly flick, they are such a picture perfect family!

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had a dinner date with pals Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith at Cut Steakhouse in Beverly Hills earlier this week.

Jada Pinkett Smith was honored last night at Essence Magazine’s First Annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon and her biggest fan is her husband Will Smith. “I look at this woman every day and I’m always like, ‘Somebody needs to honor you, girl!’” Will exclaimed to Extra.

In a time where most Hollywood marriages don’t last more than a couple years, Pinkett told Extra that she is not insecure in her 10 year marriage to Smith. “Will doesn’t behave the way he does for me. You can’t do anything for other people. You have to do that because that’s the man you want to be. Will is that man. That’s him and his understanding.”

And Pinkett’s beauty secret? “Lots of sex!” she responded.