King oil spill telethon raises $1.8m

A CNN telethon presented by Larry King and Ryan Seacrest has raised more than $1.8m (£1.2m) for Gulf coast relief.

The proceeds will go to the United Way, National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy to aid their efforts to fight the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, reports Entertainment Weekly.

Celebrities including Jenny McCarthy, Giuliana Rancic, Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder and Ted Danson were in attendance.

The stars took calls and monitored live tweets about the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.