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Celebs talk mass incarceration in new ad campaign

Meek Mill, Danny Glover and Bernard Hopkins are on board.

The Roots' Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
The Roots' Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)Read more

PHILLY CELEBS are banding together for a campaign called "Familiar Faces Against Mass Incarceration" to educate folks about the prison-industrial complex and school-to-prison pipeline.

The campaign starts here this weekend, while a national campaign that will advertise in movie theaters across the country should start up in mid- to late December, with people like actor Danny Glover, activist Angela Davis and pastor T.D. Jakes joining the cause.

The Philly celebs include rapper Meek Mill, the Roots' Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, WDAS' Patty Jackson and boxer Bernard Hopkins.

Terrance Tykeem, who is spearheading the campaign, said the ads will appear on shows like VH1's "Love & Hip Hop" and Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," whose audience he believes is most affected by mass incarceration for profit.

"The ads are designed to really jolt people, to get people to talk about this," said Tykeem, who began his work as an activist after his own incarceration experience.

For more information, check out familiarfacesagainstmassincarceration.com.

Patten-ed

Keep an eye out for Dave Patten, the Havertown native and Temple-educated actor, musician and writer. He hits the big screen tomorrow with a role in the Vince Vaughn-starring "Delivery Man" as one of Vaughn's 533 children (yeah, you read that right).

"[Vaughn] was just hilarious and fun to hang out with, and a mentor in a way," Patten told me. "He was really insightful and eager to help us out and stuff, so when we were on camera it was real. He wasn't just hanging out in the trailer and only stepped out when he needed to."

Acting alone doesn't satisfy Patten. He just released his first novel, Run of the Mill, calling it the hardest thing he's ever done, and he'll play a show Sunday at the World Cafe Live.

"I don't sleep too often," he said. "I take a lot of naps."

Pig out

How much would you shell out for a cheesesteak-making party with Tony Luke Jr.? The going price at Style Wars, a fundraiser for adoptapig.com, was $9K. That's a lot of cheesesteaks. Other than the cancer-fighting Adopt a Pig, the real winner was Dan Morrow, who won a two-year lease on a 2014 Porsche Boxster.

Jump for 'Joy'

The Philadelphia Tribune's Kimberly Roberts will sign copies of her book Joy Ride! The Stars and Stories of Philly's Famous Uptown Theater from 1 to 3 p.m. today at the Barnes & Noble at Temple University (1700 N. Broad St.). Joining Roberts will be special guest Earl Young of the disco greats the Trammps.

Philippines fundraiser

Stop by Twenty Manning Grill (261 S. 20th St.) on Sunday to raise money for the Gawad Kalinga Fund, an organization spearheading relief efforts in the Philippines. From 4 p.m. to whenever they run out, Twenty Manning will serve up $3 beers, $7 wine and select cocktails, and $10 Philippine eats courtesy of Audrey Claire's chef Lou Boquila.

OUT AND ABOUT

* After hanging with Berry Gordy at the Marian Anderson Award gala, Jerry Blavat rushed to check out his bud Frankie Valli's performance at the Zellerbach Theatre. The old friends then headed to Modo Mio (161 W. Girard Ave.), where chef Peter McAndrews cooked Valli up the type of meatball they just don't make in LA.

* Chef Georges Perrier was spotted at the Ashton Cigar Bar (1522 Walnut St.) on Monday night as two buds apparently fawned over the former Le Bec-Fin owner. I hear discussions centered around how much Perrier could sell a memoir for, Jersey locations for a possible new spot and whether a character in Pixar's "Ratatouille" was based on Perrier, according to fellow celeb chef Thomas Keller's word.

* First-season "Project Runway" victor Jay McCarroll stopped by drag-queen competition Drag Wars at Voyeur (1221 Saint James St.) on Tuesday night.

On Twitter: @PhillyGossipDN

Online: ph.ly/DNGossip