GoFundMe can be a wonderful resource for those in need. While the average person uses a campaign to raise money for medical debt, funeral costs, or veterinary bills, multi-millionaire Alyssa Milano has tapped the resource to help send her kid son and his baseball team on a field trip.
Plenty have taken to social media to lambast the out-of-touch celeb for her penny-pinching, including desperate people who have turned to the fundraising site as a last resort.
Why is her post tone-deaf?
Using the website GoFundMe for travel expenses isn’t abnormal, but one quick perusal of the site’s many posts paints a depressing picture. Families from all around the world use the webpage to petition for funds for dying family members, travel expenses to flee war-torn countries, and to help fund funerals. The site’s non-life-threatening additions are few and far between, and that is where the tone-deaf nature of Milano’s request comes in.
The actress petitioned for 10k to help send her 12-year-old son’s baseball team to Cooperstown New York for a tournament. In the listing, it notes that the funds will be used for travel costs, uniforms, dues for families, and novelty items on the trip. The disconnect between an actual billionaire asking for financial support alongside thousands of struggling people from around the globe started a social media wildfire.
#AlyssaMilano was instantly trending on social media. Users pointed out the hypocrisy of Milano’s petition, the actress isn’t like those thousands of overlooked people in need of charity. Milano is in no way hurting for cash and could have easily covered the cost of her son’s trip with her own money.
Alyssa Milano began her acting career in the early 80s, and earned cultural icon status with her tenure are Phoebe on the American fantasy drama Charmed. The actress raked in an average of 90k per episode, and assuming she managed her money wisely, she has around $10 million in the bank.
Milano isn’t the only member of the household whose coffers overflow. The Who’s the Boss? actress married her current husband, Dave Bugliari back in 2009, and the talent agent brought his own fortune with him, an estimated $5 million. The 10k trip is less than .01% of the couple’s over all wealth, a literal drop in the bucket.
The GoFundMe was posted under the name Alyssa Bugliari back in May 2023, so it’s likely that this is a last-ditch effort for the boys to get their full funding. Plenty of fans jumped to Milano’s defense, shaming the angry users for expecting Milano and her husband to foot the bill.
Milano has been a vocal proponent of President Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, and no small number of right-wing Trump supporters used the moment to attack the actress. Though a fair number of self-proclaimed pro-Trump commenters made jabs, the most common thread was average people frustrated by what they saw as an abuse of power.
What was Alyssa Milano’s response?
After the post went viral, Milano had no choice but to respond. After several phone calls from the media, the actress tweeted,
“I’ve paid for uniforms for the entire team and coaches, thrown bday parties and sponsor any kid who can’t afford monthly dues. The kids also do fundraising themselves—car washes, movie nights, and many other fun things! Thank you to all who have contributed to the GoFundMe! You’ve made things easier for these boys and their families.”
Look, we’re not saying folks don’t need a helping hand every once in a while, but if you’re looking for someone who needs your money, maybe pick anyone other than an established movie star.
