Coldplay frontman Chris Martin seems like a fundamentally nice man who doesn’t really deserve the amount of stick he gets. As the harbinger of mid-noughties soft-rock, he became a villain to the kind of floppy-haired man who makes you listen to his iPod Classic in the back of a taxi.
But that’s not to say the perma-serene singer can’t dish it out when he wants to. Martin turned up at the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s 20th anniversary gala in Northern California to celebrate his Hollywood pal’s milestone, and managed to turn his speech and performance into an impressive roast of Leo's controversial menswear choices.
“I studied him very closely for about five or six years and what became clear to me was his unbelievable service, his commitment to the business of cargo shorts,” Martin quipped. He then went on to perform an original song on the subject.
“This is a guy, he’s seen cargo shorts and he said, ‘I’m going to save these shorts from extinction. They should have gone out about 25 years ago. I’m personally going to fund the sort of renaissances of cargo shorts.'”
The wine country party raised nearly $8 million for DiCaprio’s foundation, which will go towards global conservation efforts. Leo went on to deliver a speech celebrating the initiative’s achievements so far.
“When I founded LDF 20 years ago, I did so based on the simple idea that we could make a real difference by directly funding some of the most effective environmental projects—whether it be individuals, grassroots movements or major nonprofits, we wanted to focus on getting critical funding to those who could have the greatest impact,” DiCaprio said at the event.
“Since 1998, we have supported over 200 projects on every continent and in every ocean from habitat and species conservation, renewable energy, climate change, indigenous rights, and more. I am pleased to announce $11 million in new grants across our six program areas, bringing the total financial impact of LDF to over $100 million.”
Nick Pope is the Site Director of Esquire, overseeing digital strategy for the brand.
