Despite all the 'hoopla', few recognized Orlando Bloom or Matt Dillon

Says Christina Aguilera's entourage took over only Haiti tent with air con

Describes how experts are taken off emergencies to attend to celebrities

An anonymous aid worker has written about experiences with A-listers

An anonymous aid worker has lifted the veil on the reality behind celebrity trips to crisis zones.

Writing in The Guardian, the author describes how Sean Penn threatened to publicly shame those who weren't working hard enough.

An entire base of UN workers were shut out from 'the only air conditioned tent' in Haiti when Christina Aguilera flew in for a cocktail reception, the piece alleges.

Nobody recognized Orlando Bloom and Matt Dillon during their meticulously-orchestrated visits, it continues.

And one British TV actor 'rather exceeded his brief by getting drunk with and seducing one of the local women'.

Conversely, there are those who earn 'at first grudging and then genuine respect'.

'Behind the scenes': An aid worker has claimed visits from celebrities such as Christina Aguilera (pictured in Haiti in 2009) can frustrate the relief process as experts are taken off genuine emergencies to look after them

Worth it? Despite meticulous planning for Orlando Bloom's trip, the worker writes, few recognized him

'Genuine respect': Though Sean Penn is called out for threatening aid workers at first, he has since worked to achieve 'at first grudging, then genuine respect'. And Angelina Jolie 'left experts speechless'

Sean Penn managed to achieve this accolade after years immersed in the field.

But the one who experts talk about 'with misty eyes' is Angelina Jolie - who 'left experts speechless', 'had been to more places than I had', and 'had her own cameraman, so all I had to do was find the locations and the refugees.'

The piece gives a unique insight into the hackneyed trend that sees humanitarians taken off genuine emergencies to attend to A-listers, citing experiences from friends 'in the field' with the UNHCR, Haiti Relief Organization, and others.

One had to 'source an appropriately cut agency T-shirt for a famously curvaceous actress' and '[track] down European bottled mineral water for a British soap actress for every stage of her African tour'.

And a female worker was chaperoning an actor when he 'creepily stroked' her arm, then said: 'I love aid workers'.

The worker, who is not identified, questions whether celebrity field trips are worth the hassle, and recalled how their friend did not know who Matt Dillon was when he arrived in South Sudan (pictured) for a visit

Bizarre culture: The worker says no matter where you are, as an aid worker celebrities will always be around, and described a time when John Travola (pictured) flew in 'a bunch of scientologists' to Port-au-Prince

The few who merit praise include David Beckham, who apparently required nothing but an evening to play football with local children, and Princess Diana, for walking across the minefield.

Barcelona FC striker Lionel Messi, too, is name-checked as a worthwhile celebrity to fly in, as 'the excitement in Haiti... was genuinely moving'.

However, the worker questions how lucrative the expensive, extensive trips are: 'As far as I know no one has ever done an actual bang-for-buck analysis of the amount donated by readers of Grazia vs the hoopla involved.'

'The fuss involved in high-level visits is off the charts,' the aid worker writes.

'For one American VIP’s 12- hour visit to Aceh, hours were spent locating a hat with a UN-only logo. When we found one somewhere in a cupboard in Jakarta, a triumphant message went to New York – only for his people to turn it down, saying it was a floppy cricket hat “and he only wears baseball caps”).'

Humble: David Beckham, the worker writes, earned respect for wanting nothing but to play with the locals

'Genuinely moving': People like Lionel Messi are worth it, the worker said, due to the emotional reaction



