Charlize Theron convinces Sean Penn to melt his guns into a sculpture?
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While scores of stars partied down at the Golden Globes last weekend, a few were select A-listers were among the guests at Sean Penn's third annual Help Haiti Home benefit, which raised more than $5 million for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization.
The dinner party at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., included a surprise performance by U2 — the band's first in four years.
It also included a surprise sculpture.
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Anderson Cooper hosted the evening and gave the night's biggest donation: His auction bid of $1.4 million won a sculpture to be made by artist Jeff Koons from Penn's 65 discarded firearms.
Sixty-five discarded firearms, you say? What necessitated such a gun dump, you ask?
Apparently the idea to get rid of all of his guns was that of his new girlfriend, South African actress Charlize Theron.
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"A strong woman who happens to be from South Africa" convinced Penn to unload his weapons, Penn said at the gala, according to E! Online.
Theron has a tragic history when it comes to gun violence. She was just 17 when her mother shot and killed her father after he reportedly fired his own gun and threatened to kill her.
"Being provoked by this aforementioned strong woman and considering how liberating of bulls**t and ugliness it would be not only get rid of the guns I have in the continental United States but also to destroy them, Jeff Koons and I had a chat the other day," Penn said. "The highest bidder gets every single one of my guns put in the hands of this iconic artist and sculptor…Koons will decommission [and] render inactive all of my cowardly killing machines."
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Bette Midler, Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Kathryn Bigelow and Emma Thompson also attended the swanky charity affair.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.