HOLLYWOOD's most bankable actor Leonardo DiCaprio makes his first starring appearance in Scotland this week – and he's doing it for free.
On Thursday the Oscar winner will be the keynote speaker at the Scottish Business Awards which have become something of a magnet for A-list celebrities. Last year's turn was George Clooney.
Organisers say both were attracted by their desire to promote the welfare of others, with their fees going to their respective foundations. All the event's profits are donated to charity and this year they hope to raise £200,000. In all the awards have raised over £4m for good causes since their inception six years ago.
Previous keynote speakers have included Sir Bob Geldof, former US president Bill Clinton and Virgin's Sir Richard Branson.
It will be DiCaprio's first visit to Scotland. His and Clooney's visit was arranged by entrepreneur Tom Hunter and Josh Littlejohn, the co-founder of Social Bite, a not-for-profit venture that helps the homeless community by allowing customers to pay for food and drink for the vulnerable.
DiCaprio, who won his first Oscar this year for his part in The Revenant, will address an audience of over 2000 Scottish entrepreneurs and business leaders at what is the UK’s largest business awards dinner, held at Edinburgh’s EICC.
The star – who is chairman of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) – welcomes the chance to tell the business community about its work in helping to protect biodiversity, implement ocean and forest conservation and educate the world about climate change.
A source close to the awards organisers said that the stars "see it as a win-win and an opportunity to talk about their core causes to 2000 business leaders, spreading the word and enthusing people about the causes they care
about.
"Nobody makes a penny out of it, the organisers or the celebrities."
DiCaprio's undisclosed fee will go to the foundation which last month said it was aiding an investigation into a Malaysian embezzlement scam linked to his hit film The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Hollywood star contacted the US justice department in July just after it filed a lawsuit to seize more than $1billion in allegedly ill-gotten assets tied to Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB, including rights to the film.
Allegations of a vast international scheme of embezzlement and money-laundering involving billions of dollars of 1MDB money began to emerge two years ago, rocking Malaysia’s political establishment.
"Both Mr DiCaprio and LDF continue to be entirely supportive of all efforts to assure that justice is done in this matter," a statement from his camp said. "Mr DiCaprio is grateful for the lead and instruction of the government on how to accomplish this."
DiCaprio's statement comes days after Switzerland-based charity The Bruno Manser Fund called for the actor and activist to step down from his role as a United Nations Messenger of Peace for climate change, which he had held since 2014, if he did not clarify his alleged ties to the case.
On his visit DiCaprio is expected to visit a new restaurant called Home, in the West End of Edinburgh, which has been created by Social Bite and Maison Bleue to raise funds for homeless people in Scotland. And naturally he doesn’t want to eat alone.
A competition set up by Social Bite's Littlejohn is offering a VIP lunch with DiCaprio on the day of the awards.
Money raised from the competition will go to Home, with each £5 entry buying a meal for a homeless person in the capital.
The winner will also receive an overnight stay for two with dinner at The George Hotel, first class travel within Scotland to Edinburgh and £1000 for shopping and champagne.
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