«Breaking News» Renowned artist is burned by Ellen DeGeneres' wildlife charity over $50K sculpture

A renowned artist has been left crushed by Ellen DeGeneres' charity after it asked him to create and donate a sculpture worth $50,000 to its fundraiser, only to snub him when the piece was finished.

Daniel Mazzone, once dubbed 'the next Andy Warhol', is an artist favored by celebrities including baseball stars José Bautista and Marcus Stroman, whose works regularly sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

In a letter to DeGeneres and her charity, which was obtained by DailyMailTV, the Canadian artist and sculptor claims a rep from the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund asked him last May to make a customized sculpture from his YUME collection that the charity could auction off at its 2019 gala to raise money for its cause.

The animal-loving artist says that he worked for months on the piece, putting his paid work on hold to create it.

He says he was in regular contact with charity staff, who saw pictures of the bunny art work as it progressed.

But when he tried to hand over the finished product, Mazzone claims, the charity 'pretended that they never asked for any of it', and refused to accept his gift.

Artist Daniel Mazzoneclaims claims the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund asked him to create a custom sculpture last May only to say it never asked for the piece once he had finished. Pictured: Ellen posing behind a gorilla in Rwanda as part of her charity fund in 2018 

The animal-loving artist says that he worked for months on the $50,000 piece (pictured), putting his paid work on hold to create it. He says he was in regular contact with charity staff, who saw pictures of the bunny art work as it progressed

In a letter to DeGeneres and her charity, which was obtained by DailyMailTV (pictured), the Canadian artist and sculptor claims a rep from the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund asked him last May to make a customized sculpture from his YUME collection which the charity could auction off at its 2019 gala to raise money for its cause 

'As someone who cares immensely for animals, especially those who are most vulnerable, I put a hold on some of my commissioned pieces in order to spend months working on these customized pieces of art for your foundation in order to make sure they would have them ahead of their 2019 Charity Gala,' Mazzone wrote to DeGeneres in a letter dated February 22.

'After completing the pieces I was a little sad to find out the foundation pretended that they never asked for any of it, even though for almost a year my team and yours have been in constant communication via email and phone.

Pictured: Mazzone's completed piece that he made for Ellen's wildlife charity 

'Your foundation admitted that some associates within it misspoke and lied, but that they were still not interested in the $50,000 worth of art or donation.

'This is all fine. I'm totally okay with donating to another charity… but the reason I chose your charity was because for me [Ellen DeGeneres] you're someone I look up to.

'Your team that represents you is turning down large amounts of money and leading-on artists like myself for donations, and then turning their back on us after all is complete.'

A source close to the artist explained Mazzone's confusion when the charity told him it no longer wanted his work.

'Daniel was extremely disheartened when he heard the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund had changed its mind when all was said and done. Improving animal welfare is something that he's really passionate about, and so it's very disappointing that the charity decided not to put all his hard work to good use.'

Another source said Mazzone was perplexed by the charity's apparent change of heart.

'Frankly, he's a bit baffled. They asked him to donate a sculpture, they talked to him about it and watched it take shape in pictures he sent them over the several months that it took to create.

'Then when it was done, they pretended that they never asked for it and said they didn't want it,' the source told DailyMail.com.

'He's very happy to donate the piece to another charity, but he just feels it's a great shame that it couldn't be with Ellen's Wildlife Fund.'

A source said: 'Daniel (pictured) was extremely disheartened when he heard the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund changed its mind when all was said and done'

Mazzone, once dubbed 'the next Andy Warhol', is an artist favored by celebrities including baseball stars José Bautista and Marcus Stroman, whose works regularly sell for tens of thousands of dollars

Mazzone has previously donated works to animal rights charity PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Children's Aid Foundation, as well as other causes.

When reached for comment, Mazzone's publicist Zack Teperman of ZTPR told DailyMail.com: 'It's an unfortunate situation, and in the end, the animals are the ones who suffer from this. That letter was intended just for Ellen.

'I'm sure she will be heartbroken to know that people representing her turned away a large donation and quite frankly wasted many people's time and energy who were just trying to support her global conservation efforts for endangered species. That's all I have to say.'

DailyMail.com reached to Casey Rogers, the Director of the Ellen Fund who had dealings with Mazzone, but she did not respond.

Emails to representatives for Ellen were also ignored.

Though now a recognized name in the art world with a recent sold-out showcase at Art Basel in Florida, Mazzone spent his teenage years homeless in Toronto, Canada.

The artist ran away from home aged 15, and spent five years on the streets, sheltering in public bathroom stalls and $2 movie theaters.

In his letter addressed to Ellen, her wife Portia de Rossi and Ellen's charity, Mazzone writes: 'I'm totally okay with donating to another charity… but the reason I chose your charity was because for me [Ellen DeGeneres] you're someone I look up to'

Mazzone says he got his artistic streak from his mother, a stained-glass artist who he worked with as a child, but is inspired by pop art legend Andy Warhol.

'People can look at someone, especially a homeless person on the street and easily judge them. They don't have any idea about their life story,' he told Miami Chronicles.

'Andy Warhol is someone I look up to. What he did was out of the box for his time. It pushes me to try to be better.'

Mazzone uses a collage of books, newspapers and other paper to create mosaics, telling the story of the people depicted in his artwork.

MLB baseball star, José Bautista, owns several of his pieces.

'I think he's got a unique technique,' Bautista said. 'I like the use of his colors and the images that he uses. It definitely makes you think about how you look at things in life - including people - and hopefully we can learn that details are what makes each one of us unique.'  

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/02/renowned-artist-is-burned-by-ellen-degeneres-wildlife-charity-over-50k-sculpture/
Main photo article A renowned artist has been left crushed by Ellen DeGeneres‘ charity after it asked him to create and donate a sculpture worth $50,000 to its fundraiser, only to snub him when the piece was finished.
Daniel Mazzone, once dubbed ‘the next Andy Warhol’, is an artist favored by...

It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.

Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca





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