Chrissy Teigen doubled her donation for protesters’ bail after a troll criticized her for it
On May 25th, Minneapolis citizen George Floyd was killed when police officer Derek Chavin knelt on his neck for several minutes. Since then, protesters have been flooding the streets of Minneapolis—as well as several other cities across the U.S. Many celebrities are using their platforms and personal paychecks to bail the more than 4,400 protesters out of jails in Minneapolis and across America. Chrissy Teigen originally pledged $100,000 to help, but she has since doubled her donation in response to trolls who criticized protesters on her feed.
“In celebration of whatever the fuck maga night is, I am committed to donating $100,000 to the bail outs of protestors across the country,” Teigen tweeted, referring to the trending #MAGANight hashtag.
The hashtag took over Twitter after President Donald Trump tweeted hours earlier, “The professionally managed so-called “protesters” at the White House had little to do with the memory of George Floyd. They were just there to cause trouble. The @SecretService handled them easily. Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???”
In celebration of whatever the fuck maga night is, I am committed to donating $100,000 to the bail outs of protestors across the country.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 30, 2020
After someone replied to Teigen in a now-deleted tweet saying the protesters were “rioters and criminals,” she doubled her donation to $200,000.
Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000 https://t.co/axuJnazJkU
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 30, 2020
Teigen wasn’t the only celebrity to help those who need it right now. Steve Carell, Ben Schwartz, Janelle Monáe, and Seth Rogan all matched donations made to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which pledges to use the $20 million raised in the past week to “pay bail for those who have shown up in love and grief and rage to demand justice for the murder of George Floyd, and then to post bail in our community for those who are held pretrial simply because they cannot pay and to post bonds to free people from ICE detention.”
Just matched you . 🤜🏾🤛🏾 https://t.co/lp0ZtdRvTX
— Janelle Monáe👽🚆🤖🚀🪐 (@JanelleMonae) May 28, 2020
Matched https://t.co/bmeP30vGX4
— Steve Carell (@SteveCarell) May 28, 2020
matched https://t.co/OZ2P4PTwud
— Don" 't ask me google questions" Cheadle (@DonCheadle) May 28, 2020
Colin Kaepernick pledged to help detained protestors by helping to find and pay for legal representation if necessary.
In fighting for liberation there‘s always retaliation. We must protect our Freedom Fighters. We started a legal defense initiative to give legal representation to Freedom Fighters in Minneapolis paid for by @yourrightscamp
For representation or to donate https://t.co/q0pzAObCiG
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 29, 2020
If you are faced with police arrest while protesting, the ACLU has advice: “Make sure to keep your hands visible…Don’t argue, resist, or obstruct the police, even if you believe they are violating your rights. Point out that you are not disrupting anyone else’s activity and that the First Amendment protects your actions.”
The Minnesota Freedom Fund has received such an influx of donations that it has recommendations for other places to donate if you want to help, too: the Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block. You can also donate to Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp here.
