Chris Martin and Tony Blair...

From MSNBC.COM:
"Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — a.k.a. Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow — has turned down British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s invitation to meet him at his London home because Martin frets it would damage his image, according to World Entertainment News Networks"




This is an example of another celebrity talking until he's blue in the face about a specific cause, and then when given the opportunity to meet someone face to face who actually has some power to do something about it, tucks his tail between his legs and runs away for fear of alienating a section of his fans by being associated with Mr. Blair. Maybe Chris Martin isn't as passionate as he pretends to be about this cause. For those of you that don't know, Mr. Martin is a big supporter of making trade fairer among poorer nations vs. larger ones, etc... A big proponent of OXFAM and trying to make wages more consistent for the coffee bean farmer as an example. This is a very worthwhile cause and I will admit that before Chris Martin made me aware of it, I knew next to nothing about the whole system. How is it that you pay close to four dollars for your cup of coffee at Starbucks, (Not to pick on them specifically, just as an example) yet the guy who farms the beans can't afford to feed his family? Issues like these is what OXFAM tries to get to the bottom of. At any rate, they try do good things for those that are stuck in an unfair system. I would just think that given the opportunity, Mr. Martin would love the chance to chat with Mr. Blair about this issue. I would be wrong of course. An example of a person who would take the chance would be a Bono of U2 fame who's used his status as an entertainer to cause some change in the world. He's met with everyone who would listen including President Bush. You never heard of him worrying about what what his fans would think. A couple years ago Coldplay appeared to be the next U2, it appears they're a lot farther away from that status than we thought.