Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he would donate $1 BILLION of his equity to fund coronavirus relief. That’s just about one-quarter of his net worth. It’s notable because so many billions are donating to charity, but they’re only donating $1 million here or there. And sorry not sorry, that sh-t doesn’t cut it. It’s actually offensive, and I’m 100% into cyberbullying billionaires into donating bigger chunks of their net worth to charity. So, props to Jack and all that. One of his first moves was to allocate $2.1 million to the Mayor’s Fund of Los Angeles, specifically to support the victims of domestic violence (domestic violence calls & reports have spiked in the lockdown). Rihanna and Jack did matching-funds:
Rihanna and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, are teaming up to help victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles affected by the stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic. Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) and Dorsey on Thursday announced a joint grant to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles to address the current crisis among domestic violence victims in the city. CLF and Dorsey are each committing $2.1 million for a total of $4.2 million.
According to the announcement, while CLF and Dorsey have launched the effort first in L.A., “victims of domestic violence exist all across the world, so this is just the beginning.”
Last week, CLF and Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation (SCF) announced $2 million in grants to COVID-19 response efforts to support undocumented workers, the children of front-line health workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles. And in March, CLF announced $5 million in grants to on-the-ground partners working on the front lines of the coronavirus response to protect and prepare vulnerable and marginalized communities in the U.S., Caribbean and in Africa.
Rihanna is so f–king awesome. It would be easy for her – expected, even – to use her charitable foundation as some tax shelter which really doesn’t do much. But no, she raises millions and she’s giving away millions. Which is probably why she was NOT in the mood when someone asked her about that new album:
Rihanna is done discussing her highly-anticipated ninth album, especially while attempting to help those who have been affected by coronavirus. The songstress, 32, snapped on fans during an Instagram Live session who repeatedly asked when she plans to release the album, commonly referred to as ‘R9′, telling her loyal #RihannaNavy that she currently has bigger fish to fry, doing her part to help those affected by COVID-19.
“If one of y’all motherf–kers ask me about the album one more time when I’m tryna save the world, unlike y’all president….on sight!’ exclaimed the star, Daily Mail reports.
“Unlike y’all president” – but Trump doesn’t have a highly-anticipated album just sitting there, nearly or entirely completed! But I get her point. The Army needs to stop asking about the album for a few months, Rihanna’s doing other sh-t.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
What an amazing act of generosity from Dorsey. I can imagine that no matter how rich you get (fairly or not) it’s scary to part with such a substantial portion of your worth. I hope celebrities and powerful people follow suit.
Yeah, where are all those billionaires that were supposed to save us? Guess that wealth ain’t rolling downhill too fast lol.
I’ll give Dorsey credit when I see the receipts. Wealthy people are notorious in major charity circles for saying they’ll pledge for PR purposes and then straight up never actually sending the money. (i.e. Notre Dame fire) Note the wording there, guys – he’s giving EQUITY away worth one billion. That doesn’t necessarily translate to cash value.
Rihanna continues to impress. She’s got so many other things going on, I’m surprised she’s even continuing to make music at this point, but it is kind of ridiculous for people to keep asking her about it right now.
Agreed.
I appreciate Rihanna doing this and the other celebrities who are actually trying to help vs bitching about quarantine in their mansions. I also feel extremely pissed off that Jack Dorsey’s financial equals are spending more money on their images than actually helping people, namely Bezos and any of the Waltons. Bezos pledged what, 500 million the one time weeks ago? Not good enough. Bezos makes that amount of money in days. And how about the Waltons? Walmart employees still aren’t getting guaranteed health insurance or other benefits. The exploitation from Amazon and Walmart continues and we’re supposed to be grateful? F that.
This website always refers to Rihanna’s fans as “army” but they’re called NAVY
So, now I need to use Twitter more and pledge my life to the Rhi Navy? Alrighty then!! Such good news to hear, especially the kinds of charity and services that the money is going to.
finally a celebrity actually saying the right thing. love rihanna!