[Closed] Bob Geldof. Saint or sinner?

I think I'd have to see proof that Sir Bob's money was "siphoned off the top of donations in Ethiopia". That's a fairly serious accusation. Is Bob Geldof even that rich?

He was interviewed on the Andrew Marr show this morning (Saint Bob was in Nairobi) - he was NOT HAPPY! 😆

unfortunately i have to agree and though i would like to think that sir bob didn't start the band aid ball rolling with a view to accumulating personal wealth, i can't help but think that had he done nothing in 1984 we wouldn't now be calling him sir bob but bob who?

of course the media circus that now surrounds television has created a new bread of fame and money hungry scavenger. mrs mcgroo tells me that someone has written on davina mccalls twitter page calling her a media hoar (or words to that effect), apparently she's doing some charity walk for sport relief, very commendable and no doubt will raise some money but how much will she benefit with extra and continued publicity? difficult to quantify but probably far in excess of what she is helping to raise.

not knocking davina mccall, most tv people are at it. watching motd last night, alan shearer, could get any job in football but he (or his manager) ain't stupid, there's loads of money in football but there's more money to be made in tv.

i can't help but think that had he done nothing in 1984 we wouldn't now be calling him sir bob but bob who?

Certainly, but what would have been the consequences had he done nothing? Did Live Aid / Band Aid make a difference or not?

[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictures_of_Starving_Children_Sell_Records ]Good old Bob[/url]

Considering the state that Ethiopia still finds itself in today its hard to judge how much of an impact Live Aid actually made, especially considering the news stories that have been emerging in the last week...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7048218.ece

Certainly on an emergency level it did provide some relief, but the long term issues that exist within Ethiopia still have to be addressed...

Paul (VSO Volunteer, Awassa, Ethiopia)

Oh yes- and the reason all this is coming to light now is the forthcoming Ethiopian elections at the end of this month. Lots of muck cslinging going on...

The world owes him a living. [url= http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=48603&p=3&topicID=10238523 ]He's always been looking after number one[/url]and coincidentally sometimes others have benefitted. But please don't cite him in the same post as that odious hypocrite Bono, Bob's alright.

Potential Team America icon

Not fond of him but compared to 'bongo' he's a saint

I've never really give Geldof much thought but loads of people are adept at making a living for not having a personal talent apart from bearing their breasts or making a reality show about themselves.

I watched a documentary (well part of it was too painful) on one of Geldofs daughters and I amazed that someone commission the program and they actually went through and managed to get it shown on TV.

Imagine a STW having a camera crew following him around with him saying erm, yeah, erm hum for an hour.

On balance, I think Bob has been more of a force for good than bad.

Yep, no denying he's profitted personally, I'm just not sure why that's a problem as long as others have also profitted. He's not a saint after all.

I was pretty annoyed at his highjacking of the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, mind. I saw 200000 people march in Edinburgh, precisely **** all to do with him, but he put on some gigs and apparently people turning up to see bands they liked was more important than the biggest demonstration in scottish history.

The thread title reminds me of that nutter who used to stand in Oxford Circus with a megaphone

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r2fh8/The_Now_Show_Series_30_Episode_1/ ]Fast foward to just past 21 minutes 20 seconds.[/url]

You beat me too it Ian. 😀

Bob Geldof made his money in television - his production company was behind the Big Breakfast and loads of other very successful shows.

He has a forceful "make it happen" kind of personality which no doubt stood him in good stead in business as well as raising money for Africa

Bono is a total hypocrite, so is Sting - I don't believe Bob Geldof is

Daily Fail thread of the evening so far

I think he should of spent more time being a father to his ignorant useless daughter, so we don't have to read about her in the paper every week. Peaches FFS!

Yep, thread FAIL - the OP is truly talking out of his arse.

Whilst Bob Geldof has undoubtedly done many thing that have been a massive force for good I cant help but feel the hipocrisy of being non domiciled as a UK resident to avoid tax on his income makes his opinion on how this country is run or how its news is reported slightly less worthy.

I pay all my taxes etc, when I die no doubt the government will take a chunk of my estate but not 'sir' Bob. Oh no. Give us your ****ing money indeed but dont let HMRC at my British Virgin Island based companies that own the houses I live in and pass all my earnings through because I am to fantastic to pay tax.

Wasnt it a couple years ago it was revealed he charged AU$100,000 to give a 1hr talk on some charity is Australia .. and insisted on 1st class flights and 1st class hotels thrown in also?

Not saying he should be expected to pay for these things out of his own pocket - but 1st class flights and hotels .. plus a large fee??

smuttiesmith "but feel the hipocrisy of being non domiciled as a UK resident to avoid tax on his income makes his opinion on how this country is run or how its news is reported slightly less worthy."

I'm not sure he has that much to say specifically about how the UK is run? Mostly he pursues global issues.

[i]Wasnt it a couple years ago it was revealed he charged AU$100,000 to give a 1hr talk on some charity is Australia .[/i]

Wasn't it a couple of minutes back you just googled to find a straw to clutch.
Had you googled for a bit longer, you'd have noticed it wasn't a charity, but this business.
[url] http://www.diversityatwork.com.au/ [/url]