Believe it or not, celebrity testimony before Congress in most cases is a very good thing. For starters, most celebrities who do appear before congress are actually bona fide experts and passionate activists for the causes they care about. It also doesn't hurt to have a famous face attached to something to raise awareness. In a best-case scenario, a popular celebrity can draw mass attention to an issue and actually create some real legal action in Congress. In some cases, celebs are actually invited by Congress to speak on behalf of a current issue that's being addressed.
Here's a list of celebrities who have testified before Congress. You might be surprised at some of the names here.
Lots of folks quickly dismissed it as a joke when the news hit in 2015 that actor Ben Affleck was scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of a panel of experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But not so fast. Affleck has long expressed a strong interest in the problems of Congo. And his March 26, 2015 testimony wasn't his first, but third time testifying before Congress. His philanthropic organization Eastern Congo Initiative provides grants and funding for Eastern Congo populations affected by poverty and underdevelopment. While some may question Affleck's expertise, his testimony could prove to be valuable based on his organization's work in the troubled African nation. And this last time, he even managed to sneak in a Batman joke. Watch the video to see.
Hilarious Canadian Seth Rogen testified at a Senate hearing in February 2014, but not in favor of marijuana legalization. He spoke to promote funding for Alzheimer's research in a hearing called "Taking a Toll on Families and the Economy: The Rising Cost of Alzheimer’s in America." His mother-in-law, Adele Miller, suffers from the disease.
Probably one of the most infamous celebrity Congressional testimonies to date, the late screen icon Elizabeth Taylor testified in front of Congress several times on behalf of AIDS research funding and to increase emergency care to those afflicted by the disease.
The first celebrity to come out publicly in the fight against AIDS, her testimony was invaluable in the support of the Ryan White Care Act, which served as the federal vehicle for providing healthcare for low-income people and the uninsured.
Age: Dec. at 79 (1932-2011)
Birthplace: Hampstead Garden Suburb, United Kingdom
In 1998, actor Michael J. Fox went public about his Parkinson's Disease diagnosis. Makes sense that he would be considered an authority on the impact of the illness, especially after becoming an activist and creating the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which supports creating a cure for Parkinson's Disease.
Fox first testified before Congress in 1999 to advocate research for Parkinson's.
Yes, the former Comedy Central talking head and current late-night host, Stephen Colbert, got his chance to share a thought or two with Congress as well. Invited by the United Farm Workers to appear with them before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration in 2010, Colbert, who'd spent a day working as a laborer on produce farm, helped to debunk the notion that immigrants were taking away good jobs from Americans. Because, well, so many unemployed U.S. citizens were desperate for a gig to toil out in the fields doing the back breaking and low-paying work necessary to provide the rest of America with fruit and veggies.
Yes, folks, you read right: Elmo the Muppet testified before the United States Congress. In 2002, Elmo went to D.C. to support music education programs. Between trying to eat the microphone and constantly interrupting his fellow witnesses, Elmo delivered an engaging albeit comical pitch to the Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
