As donations continue to pour in from around the world, "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" announced on Saturday (January 23) that it has raised more than $58 million to date — a new record for donations made by the general public through a disaster-relief telethon. The preliminary figure includes donations made via phone, online and mobile, and does does not include donations by corporations and large private donors, or iTunes sales figures, all of which are still being calculated.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will continue accepting donations for six months via the following methods:

» Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
» Phone: 877-99-HAITI
» Text: Text "GIVE" to 50555
»Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Did you watch Friday night's telethon? Here are a few of the noteworthy performances from Tr3s favorites.

(MTVNEWS)

Photo via Getty Images

Madonna, President Bill Clinton, Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, and Will Smith have joined "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," which airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT on MTV Tr3s and many other networks.

In addition to musical performances, Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN's Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti, "Hope for Haiti Now" will also feature Chris Rock, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Matt Damon, and more than 100 of the biggest names in film, television and music.

Madonna (performing in New York) and Haitian artist Emeline Michel (in Los Angeles) will join the previously announced lineup of musical performances: Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige and Sting in New York; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, and Taylor Swift in Los Angeles; and Beyoncé, Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna in London.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will begin accepting donations at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Friday via the following methods:

» Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
» Phone: 877-99-HAITI
» Text: Text "GIVE" to 50555
» Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Music performances from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be available for purchase and download on the iTunes Store. Beginning on Friday, iTunes customers will be able to exclusively pre-order both the Hope for Haiti Now full performance album ($7.99) and the full two-hour video telecast ($1.99). Pre-orders will be delivered in the days following the telethon. Individual audio performances will also be available for purchase and download for 99 cents each in the days following the telethon. Apple, the record labels and the artists will donate their share of the proceeds to Haiti relief funds managed by "Hope for Haiti Now" charities.

"Hope for Haiti Now" performances will also be available for purchase on AmazonMP3 and Rhapsody, with distribution provided by INgrooves. Proceeds from those purchases will also benefit Haiti relief funds managed by "Hope for Haiti Now" charities.

"Hope for Haiti Now," will benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation and the newly formed Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be split among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief. With the exception of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, each partner organization was selected for its history of operation and collaboration within the NGO community in Haiti.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will air across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, CNN en Español, HBO Latino, and Canadian networks including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, and MuchMusic. The event will be live streamed online globally across sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV. "Hope for Haiti Now" will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, National Geographic, and MTV Networks International, which is available in 640 million homes worldwide. "Hope for Haiti Now" will be available non-exclusively to all terrestrial radio stations around the globe and SIRIUS XM Radio as a one time only radio broadcast via the MTV Radio Network and Westwood One.  (MTVNews)

Just when you thought the hoopla of Chrihannagate ‘09 was over, Rihanna’s brand new interview with W magazine brings up some old…and new revelations. 

The mag’s February cover girl says this about her former love Chris Brown:

“There were control issues, insecurity. When people are insecure they become very controlling and they can get very aggressive and in turn abusive. It doesn’t have to be physical. Like they would say bad stuff to you to make you feel lesser than them just so they would have control in the relationship. It takes a big toll on your emotions and on your everyday life. It changes you.”

Rihanna said she sought refuge in her music, finding that it helped to write about the attack:

“I started to go crazy after about a month in the house, so I went back to work, and the mic was my therapist. With the mic, there were no negative comments, no negative energy. At first I completely shut down. But now I feel like this happened to me so I could be a voice for young girls who are going through what I went through and don’t know how to talk about it. It’s not about Chris, about hurting him or sabotaging his career. I don’t care about that part of it.”

On why she stayed away from friends and family immediately after the attack:

“It’s like they are too close to you. When you have to talk about something so painful, they are going to get too emotional. And that wasn’t helping me, because I already felt the same way and I’m looking to not feel like this. I felt like, If I’m going to tell you something and you’re going to have pity for me, then I’m not going to talk to you.”

We love Rihanna, and domestic violence is never the answer, but don't you think the R&B star has vented enough on her former boo? Weigh in below! (theybf)

Photo via W Magazine

Looks like 2010 has brought a new love into the Rated R singer's life! That's right, Rihanna's found a new beau, Los Angeles Dodger Matt Kemp!  

The 21-year-old singer, introduced to Kemp, 25, by friends in November, is currently vacationing with the outfielder at a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas.

While hanging poolside on Jan. 4, the lovebirds "couldn't keep their hands off of each other," says an eyewitness, adding that once back on their patio the pair "kept kissing while gazing out over the ocean."

"Rihanna wants the world to know that she is happy with Matt," says an insider. So far, things between them are looking good. He certainly kept her "constantly giggling," says an onlooker, when they went shopping at The Grove outdoor mall in L.A. on Dec. 22.

"They've only had a few opportunities to be together, but those times have been fun," says Kemp's agent Dave Stewart.

Adds an insider, "They really like each other."

Happiness in 2010? We couldn't think of anyone who deserves it more than Rihanna! (People)

Photos via People

We couldn't celebrate el año nuevo without delivering our favorite headlines of the year past!

9. Octomom- Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets in January of 2009. She already had 6 hijos bringing the grand total to 14. Reality shows should be in the works...but we're pretty sure the Jon and Kate Plus Eight drama ruined it for the money making mami!

8.  TIE: Swine Flu/ Jobs?- The world went crazy when H1N1 emerged in April of 2009. The outbreak began in Mexico, and quickly spread. In recent months the vaccine has become available. Still...this was a rather unpleasant story of the year.

Tales of the Recession!- The economy sucked this year. Recent college graduates couldn't get jobs, experienced professionals lost their jobs and couldn't find jobs..

Lets just say admitting you were jobless wasn't as bad as admitting you had swine flu.

7.  Chrihannagate-Chris Brown and Rihanna were once the next Beyonce and Jay-Z, but a February altercation changed all that. After leaving a party in Los Angeles, Brown reportedly received a text message from another woman and refused to let Rihanna see his phone. An argument ensued, followed by Brown assaulting Rihanna. A TMZ photo was leaked of the extensive damage Brown did to Rihanna's face and Brown later pleaded guilty to felony assault  and was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community service. However, we like to remember them in happier times...

6. Balloon Boy- This was perhaps one of the funniest stories of 2009. On October 15, 5 year old Falcon Henee took off on an air adventure in a silver balloon his meteorologist father had designed for work. Or so we thought...after every air authority followed the balloon for up to 2 hours, it finally landed and young Falcon (the name is perfectly ironic) wasn't inside. Instead he was hiding in his attic. The following day the Henee family was on every morning show,  leading the public to believe this was a publicity stunt. It was in fact a hoax and on December 23, Falcon's dad, Richard Heene, was sentenced to 90 days jail and  mom, Mayumi Heene, to 20 days weekend jail.

5. Twitter- The social networking site was founded in 2006, but reached popularity in 2009. The 140 character messages are quick and make everyone feel like their very own self important celebrity..including MTV Tr3s! Feel free to follow us here @mtv3. The site became much more than a quick version of Facebook's status updates though; it's now a go to for quick links to news stories and recaps for pop culture's biggest events. When news of Balloon Boy emerged, the funniest updates included tweets like "Falcon, Imma let you finish, but Up was the greatest runaway balloon story of all time."

4. Kanye West vs. Taylor Swift- How could we forget Kanye West stealing Taylor Swift's moment during the 2009 VMAs. Ye believed Beyonce deserved the coveted MTV Moon Man for Best Female Video, and hopped up on stage during Swift's acceptance speech to proclaim that 'Single Ladies' was one of the best videos of all time. Kanye later apologized twice to Taylor, and also managed to coin the phrase "Imma let you finish."

3. Michael Jackson's Death- The King of Pop died on June 25th after suffering from cardiac arrest. He reportedly had been administered drugs such as propofol and lorazepam, and his death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County coroner. His death triggered an outpouring of grief from around the world with a globally live broadcast of his memorial service from Los Angeles' Staples Center that attracted an audience of up to one billion people. Director Spike Lee recently made a video for Jackson's last song, 'This Is It', which was also the name of his 2009 tour.

Michael Jackson - This Is It - Directed by Spike Lee from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks on Vimeo.

2. President Barack Obama- This may feel like a 2008 story, but the official inauguration for President Barack Obama took place on January 20th. The first African American President is still highly favored and appointed our number one story of the year....

1. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor- The Bronx-born Latina is the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court, the third female justice in U.S. history and the second-youngest member of the court. Making her NUMBER ONE on our list!

Feliz y prospero año nuevo! And remember to stay tuned to MTV Tr3s in January to catch nuestros especiales on Lo Mejor De Los 00's, y mientras tanto... 

Photos via Getty and Google Images

Rihanna and Jeezy team up in her new video 'Hard.' Rih looks FIERCE!

What do you think of the track? Better than 'Russian Roulette?' Yeah, we thought so too! 

Rihanna graces the January issue of GQ wearing not much more than a pair of short shorts!

This isn't the first time la hermosa cantante has gone topless... earlier this year some nudie pics of the R&B star were allegedly leaked by her ex-novio, Chris Brown. Check out more photos from the sexy spread after the jump!

Um... que cuerpazo, no? [Rihanna Daily]

Photos via Rihanna Daily

Read more...

Looks like the after effects of the 'Twilight' franchise still aren't over with...  Brad Pitt has announced he will be producing una nueva película de vampiros, entitled 'Vlad' (as in Vlad the Impaler, quien fue la inspiración for Bram Stoker's 'Dracula').  Hmm, we still have very fond memories of Brad Pitt in 'Interview With The Vampire,' in which he starred with Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas as los vampiros más sexy this side of Robert Pattinson.

The script for la película was written by young British actor Charlie Hunnam (most recently known as the heartthrob from FX's 'Sons of Anarchy'), and will be directed by Anthony Mandler, who has directed videos for artistas como Rihanna, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Eminem.   If you go by the video for "Russian Roulette," we think the director's got the dark theme down pat.  Here's hoping they cast a hot Latino/a in the film, and we'll be set! [MTV Movies; Perez Hilton]

Photo via Google Images

Holiday shopping got you broke? If you're a Rihanna fan, no te preocupes!

RiRi took to her Twitter page to announce the following financial-friendly news:

Live in NYC this Thurs Dec 3rd. B outside Hammerstein Ballroom @9AM day of show 2 get your ticket. 1st 800 will get in 4 FREE!

Hoorah!! We couldn't believe the good news either! Wonder what Chris Brown will do to top this! [Twitter]

Photo via Getty Images

Ever wondered lo que estaba pensando Rihanna when recording Rated R? We could all probably guess what she might have been thinking, considering all the dramz she's been through (her first single is likely a testament to that!), pero Rihanna herself has revealed the 5 things we didn't know about her album Rated R to MTV.

Check out her 5 aquí to get some Rated R scoop and also find out why she went blonde! [MTV.com]

Que piensan? Were you surprised by all these revelations?