American Pickers Danielle Colby to auction American flag from topless photo

In honor of Memorial Day Weekend, American Pickers star Danielle Colby Cushman posted the above photo of herself topless and wrapped in a weathered American flag on Facebook along with these words:

I picked this beautiful flag out of the trash, I wanted to turn it into beautiful art. Amy Richmond [amyrichmondphotography.com] was happy to help!

Heres to our troops! ♥ Thank you for your service! No matter what your thoughts on war and politics I am thankful for our brave soldiers.

As seems to always happen when any celebrity posts anything online, the haters turned out with all sorts of bad things to say about the picture. Danielle replied in her usual graceful but uncompromising manner as she announced she would be auctioning off the flag on eBay for charity!

ok, Soooooo…. As per usual, I will choose to focus on the positive here. I got the best night of sleep after posting this photo last night! It felt great to give honor to my loved ones who have bravely fought for my freedom to say and do what I am able to. Some of you had a great idea to auction this flag on Ebay! I shall do so and I will find a suitable charity to donate to. I like the wounded warriors idea, I also like the idea of finding a random VET and just handing that person a wad of cash! Ideas are welcome!!!

I am proud that I was raised with manners and respect for other people, thank you Mama and Papa Colby for taking the time to teach your girls how to be good , kind, non judgmental women. I will be sure to do the same with my children…. And honestly if this photo offends you so terribly that you would spew hate and wickedness on that level out into the world, That is about your ignorance and lack of love and acceptance. I will not take on your baggage. But I will suggest you dig a bit deeper, seek professional help and get well soon!

Blogging about celebrities means I wade through oceans of hateful, bitter, and vitriolic comments directed at celebrities in the spotlight (and other commenters, and even blog writers like myself) and it is SOOO refreshing to see someone handle it all so perfectly! (You can read some more of Danielle’s “Retorting Haters 101” skills HERE.)

But, back to Danielle’s flag! After fans made numerous charity suggestions, Danielle later announced her decision:

My friend Geoff Firebaugh with Hillbilly Casino [and former bassist for BR549], told me of this charity [“Stand Down” via the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans], I LOVE IT! This shall be our charity to donate to! I will get this on Ebay tomorrow! ♥ Thank you Geoff and to all you inspirational folks who helped with ideas.

Here’s a description of Stand Down from their website:

Today, Stand Down refers to a grassroots, community-based intervention program designed to help the nation’s estimated 107,000 homeless veterans on any given night “combat” life on the streets. Homeless veterans are brought together in a single location for one to three days and are provided access to the community resources needed to begin addressing their individual problems and rebuilding their lives. In the military, Stand Down afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirit, health and overall sense of well-being. Today’s Stand Down affords the same opportunity to homeless veterans.

You can see a complete list of upcoming Stand Downs across the country at va.gov.

The eBay listing isn’t up yet UPDATE – CLICK HERE for Danielle’s eBay listing for the flag! (The bidding is already up to $410!)

In case you wanted to know more details about the particular flag Danielle is wearing, here’s a little provenance from The Man In Black:

[Song: “Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash]

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com