NEW YORK: Some US celebrities are announcing big donations out of solidarity with the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, in particular to post bond for demonstrators who have been arrested.
The latest to do so is the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a comedy TV series set at a police station in New York, which said it is donating $100,000 to the National Bail Fund Network.
“The cast and showrunner of Brooklyn 99 condemn the murder of George Floyd and support the many people who are protesting police brutality nationally,” they said in a brief statement tweeted by the actress Stephanie Beatriz, who plays the irascible but good-hearted cop Rosa Diaz in the series.
Showbiz couple Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) said they are giving $200,000 to the legal defense fund of the NAACP, America’s largest civil rights organization.
“We’ve never had to worry about preparing our kids for different rules of law or what might happen if we’re pulled over in the car. We don’t know what it’s like to experience that life day in and day out,” they wrote on Instagram.
Model and TV presenter Chrissy Teigen — a regular user of Twitter to criticize President Donald Trump — is also putting up money in solidarity with the protesters.
She first announced she was donating $100,000 to pay demonstrators’ bail. Then, after somebody on the internet accused her of supporting “rioters and criminals,” she went further.
“Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000,” Teigen wrote.
Many celebrities have spoken out on social media to express support for the demonstrations and outrage over Floyd’s death on May 25 in Minneapolis. Floyd died after a policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest for a non-violent offense.
