Madonna Donates Heels To Help Gypsy Charity

The skyscraper heels, gold and autographed by the pop star, will be auctioned off at the Ovidiu Rom annual ball in Bucharest, Romania later this month. The donated prizes, including a gold chain from actress Vanessa Redgrave’s collection, will be auctioned off by raffle. Guests can win raffle tickets by making a donation.

“Madonna’s very mild comment regarding equality shone a spotlight on a common European attitude toward Gypsies,” Leslie Hawke, president of Ovidiu Rom, said. “We’re thrilled to have her donation because she is such an icon of innovation and vigor and ‘can do’ spirit.”

Hawke’s son, Ethan Hawke, is set to speak to guests at the ball.

In the middle of Madonna’s Aug. 26 show at Park Izvor in Bucharest, she addressed the issue of discrimination after a Gypsy dancer and several musicians joined the singer on stage.

“It has been brought to my attention … that there is a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe,” Madonna said. “It made me feel very sad.”

Some of the 60,000 fans in the crowd then began to boo her.

Madonna responded by saying, “We don’t believe in discrimination … we believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone.” She then stirred up her audience a bit more by talking about discrimination against homosexuals.

Gypsies, a wandering ethnic group of people who are also known as Roma, have recently faced heightened discrimination and aggression against them in Italy, Hungary and Romania.

Click here for the AP article.