If there’s one thing we’ve learnt in the last few weeks it’s that there’s nothing quite like a pandemic to bring out the best in people. In some ways, it’s also humanised those who sometimes feel so far removed from us – celebrities too have had to cancel their plans, go into lockdown and lose work.
Collectively we’re rallying on the troopers together – the NHS workers, the supermarket staff, the corner shop keepers, the post and delivery workers, and everyone working behind the scenes offering support and care to those in need. A-listers have been quick to recognise their efforts and many are putting their wealth and popularity to good use, stepping up to the mark in raising money. From Oprah and Taylor Swift to Rihanna and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, here’s how some of the A-listers have helped the fight against Coronavirus so far.
Jack Dorsey
$1bn (£800m)
Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter in 2006, pledged to donate $1bn to fund Coronavirus research to help “disarm this pandemic”. He’s donating $1bn of Square shares to a charitable fund, called Start Small, to “fund global Covid-19 relief.” He said the donation was about “28% of my wealth”.
Jeff Bezos
$100m (£80m)
The founder of Amazon and the world’s richest person has donated $100m to food bank charity, Feeding America. The charity, which runs a network of about 200 food banks, said Bezos’s donation was the biggest it had ever received, and “countless lives will be changed because of his generosity.”
Bill and Melinda Gates
$100m (£80m)
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $100m towards the detection, isolation and vaccine development for Coronavirus. Gates said “It’ll be a few billion dollars we’ll waste on manufacturing for the constructs that don’t get picked because something else is better,” Gates said on The Daily Show. “But a few billion in this, the situation we’re in, where there’s trillions of dollars … being lost economically, it is worth it.”
Mark Zuckerberg
$30m (£24m)
The Facebook founder has pledged $30m to the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust’s joint research project, the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator.
Lady Gaga
$35m (£28m)
She’s been busy organising the One World: Together at Home concert taking place on April 18 and, along with the group Global Citizen, Lady Gaga‘s raised £28m for the WHO. “My heart is very achy and warm for those who are ER doctors as well as nurses who are sleeping in cars to make sure they don’t infect their families or their patients,” said the singer.
Hugh Grosvenor
£12m
He’s the world’s richest person under 30 and Prince George’s godfather who goes by the title of The Duke of Westminster. Hugh Grosvenor, 29, has donated £12.5m to the NHS and said, “We are all humbled and incredibly grateful that you are working tirelessly to keep us safe and keep the country functioning.”
U2
€10m (£8.7m)
Rock band U2 pledged €10 million to support health care workers battling Coronavirus in Ireland.
The money is being used to source and buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff.
Oprah
$10 million (£8m)
The famed US talk-show host donated $10 million of funding against Covid-19, including $1 million to America’s Food Fund. Oprah wrote on Instagram, “I believe that America’s Food Fund will be a powerful way to make a difference for our neighbors in need.”
Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel
$10 million (£8m)
Model Miranda Kerr and her husband who founded Snapchat donated $10 million to various charities and nonprofits around LA, including Allies for Every Child, Homeboy Industries, Koreatown Youth Community Center, Proyecto Pastoral, and the Venice Family Clinic.
Rihanna
$5m (£3.9m)
Rihanna‘s charity, the Clara Lionel Foundation, founded in 2012 and named in honour of her grandparents, donated $5 million to Direct Relief, Feeding America, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the Mayor’s Fund in Los Angeles to assist victims affected by domestic violence during the coronavirus lockdown.
Roger Federer
1m Fr. (£828k)
The tennis star and his wife donated around $1m to help vulnerable families in his native Switzerland fighting COVID-19. On Instagram he wrote, “Our contribution is just a start.We hope that others might join in supporting more families in need.”
George and Amal Clooney
$1m (£800k)
George and Amal Clooney have donated more than $1m with the money understood to be shared between six COVID-19 causes including the NHS, relief in Italy and the Lebanese Food Bank.
Lionel Messi
$1m (£800k)
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has donated around €1m to help fight Covid-19. A hospital clinic in Barcelona confirmed that Messi had donated €500k to them and another medical centre in Argentina.
Cristiano Ronaldo
$1m (£800k)
Juventus star Ronaldo contributed €1m for Coronavirus intensive care units in hospitals in Portugal. The footballer was also said to be behind the decision for Portugal’s national team to collectively give up half their bonuses for qualifying for Euro 2020 which will reportedly go towards helping non-professional teams across the country avoid going bust.
Angelina Jolie
$1m (£800k)
Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie donated $1m to No Kid Hungry, a charity that provides meals to children from low-income families across the US while schools are closed, fighting child hunger.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
$1m (£800k)
One of the first celeb couples to make a public donation, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds pledged $1m to food banks in the US.
Kylie Jenner
$1m (£800k)
The Kylie Cosmetics founder has donated $1m to help fund protective gear for LA hospital workers. Jenner is also working with Coty Inc, who bought a share in her company last year, to divert resources to produce hand sanitizer for hospitals.
James McAvoy
£275,000
The X-Men actor donated £275,000 to the Masks For NHS Heroes campaign to provide protective equipment for staff and said in a video. “NHS staff are heroes…we must do all that we can to protect them, support them and thank them.”
Kristen Bell
$150,007.96 (£125,000)
Kristen Bell made a donation to the No Kid Hungry charity in the US and said the extra 7 dollars and 96 cents were from her children’s piggy banks. “The reason the number is odd, is because when my kids overheard me making the donation, they asked if they could also donate the money from their piggy bank. I couldn’t have been prouder.”
Gwyneth Paltrow
$100,000 (£80k)
The actress and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow donated $100,000 to help the Frontline Responders Fund helping equip healthcare staff. “If doctors and nurses and other hospital staff get sick they can’t keep working to save the rest of us. Access to the gear is available in enormous numbers. But serious logistics are required to get it fast to US hospitals that urgently need it.”
Meghan and Harry
£90,000
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly donated the profits made from their wedding broadcast to the charity Feeding Britain which helps provide families in need with hot meals and food packages in a bid to eliminate hunger in the UK.
Taylor Swift
Undisclosed donations to fans
Swift decided to help her fans most in need by sending them funds. Holly Turner, a freelance music photographer, shared a private message with a donation of $3,000 (£2,470), saying: “Holly, you have always been there for me. I want to be there for you right now. I hope this helps. Love, Taylor.” Another fan received $3,000 after feeling stressed by her bills. The singer also made donations to Feeding America and the Solidarity Fund/World Health Organisation.
