Stars enjoy surprise U2 performance as $6m raised at Penn’s Haiti gala

While many stars were awash in the gifts and parties of Golden Globes weekend, a few used their privilege to help the people of Haiti — and they were rewarded with an intimate performance by U2.

Bette Midler, Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, and Piers Morgan were among the guests on Saturday at Sean Penn’s third annual Help Haiti Home benefit, which raised nearly $6m (€4.3m) for the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation. The dinner party at the Montage Hotel included a surprise performance by U2— the band’s first in four years.

The J/P Haitian Relief Organisation has been working since the 2010 earthquake to provide emergency care and sustainable shelter and education to the people of Haiti. But Penn says he hopes his organisation is obsolete within 10 years.

He said progress in the Caribbean nation has been miraculous despite corruption and “inaccurate, bad journalism”.

“I’m not satisfied. I want more,” he said. “But this couldn’t have happened in the United States: This amount of clean up, this amount of resilience.”

He expects all of the people displaced by the earthquake to find permanent housing within the next two years. Nearly 2m have already moved out of camps and into homes.

Penn also gave his vintage El Camino to benefit his organisation. It sold for $100,000 at auction on Saturday.

U2’s three-song performance followed a tender, acoustic performance earlier in the evening with Bono, The Edge, and Haitian singer Anaelle Jean-Pierre.