IU is from a poor background (“She and her younger brother lived apart from their parents in a studio room with their grandmother and cousin for over one year in conditions of great poverty.”, “She attended 20 auditions but failed to succeed in any of them, and was also scammed by fake entertainment companies.”, “Due to her poor living conditions at the time, IU stated that she “loved being at the studio”, where she could eat as much as she wanted and had a place to sleep.”). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IU_(entertainer)
Debuting at 15 as an ordinary K-Pop idol, she found success quickly before breaking free of industry restraints to become a proper singer-songwriter who writes, produces, and composes her own music. She broke the idol mold and became beloved by all demographics; she is a rare example of a soloist who is more popular than most boy and girl groups.
Furthermore, she successfully moved into acting and shattered the stereotype of idol-turned-actors being poor performers (she is the lead in one of the best Korean series of all time, When Life Gives You Tangerines). She was even awarded by the National Tax Service as an Exemplary Taxpayer. Finally, she is a prolific donor, having contributed $650k in 2025 alone and donating nearly $1 million every year. https://www.soompi.com/article/1386237wpp/lee-seo-jin-iu-and-gray-receive-awards-for-being-exemplary-taxpayers
Not in the “entertainment” domain, but Malala Yousafzai’s my core one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai https://www.ted.com/talks/malala_yousafzai_what_i_got_wrong_about_changing_the_world
Angela Davis, for her spectacular guts in writing “Race, Gender, & Class”, or whatever that book is called. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis
Robin Williams always insisted on movies he was in hiring homeless people, & he corresponded with fans who were being crushed by depression, carrying their lettres when he was in their area… https://www.ted.com/talks/samantha_cohen_robin_williams_and_the_struggles_inside_us She never mentions the KEY point with many comedians: it is when one knows darkness sooo profoundly, that fighting it off of other’s-lives is a fundamental-NEED, that one gets like the more intense comedians, like Williams. It is because of being embedded in darkness that one fights to-the-death for light’s life in others’ lives.
There are a number of people who’ve done TED Talks who deserve all their fame, if not more…
& Rupert Sheldrake, for calling-out the scam Scientism is, AND for calling-out the scam that TED is, too. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rupert+sheldrake+anniversary is the guy, but the exact video, the 10th anniversary ( or something like that ) of his TED Talk being banned, seems to have been disappeared.
( other TED Talks they’ve banned include Russell Targ’s one on remote-viewing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KB9Z6BcvZg , & Targ’s a physicist, not a woo-pusher, & yes, for anybody who’d dug into that stuff, the CIA actually had employed Ingo Swann, the remote-viewer, possibly the best ever, & Joe McMoneagle was also one in that line of work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-8puX-83o4 …
… & whats-his-name, the guy who does archaeology talks, but changes how aligned with UFOs he is, depending on the audience, from what I’ve read… Graham Hancock: his banned TED talk was on how Ayahuasca kicked his ass, because he had been indulging in dope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0c5nIvJH7w should be the same one I saw years-ago. )
I’m seconding the Tom Waits vote, the Greta Thunberg vote, & the Keanu Reeves vote.
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