Shortly after scrutiny of Alyssa Milano started to die down over her alleged feud with Charmed co-star Shannen Doherty, another controversy struck. The simple act of starting a GoFundMe has led to a torrent of outrage against Milano.
The concept of celebrities starting GoFundMe pages and utilizing other fundraiser platforms has long been a subject of debate. For example, Dwayne Johnson and Oprah Winfrey were slammed when they started a fund for survivors of the Hawaii wildfires last year. Johnson and Winfrey each donated $5 million to the fund to kickstart it but that didn’t satisfy a lot of people, as some felt that the pair should have donated even more to the fund and that it was out-of-touch for two celebrities to ask regular individuals for donations. Similarly, in 2021, Kylie Jenner was criticized after sharing a GoFundMe for a makeup artist’s medical expenses and encouraging others to donate after she contributed $5,000 to the fund.
It’s a complicated discussion because, on the one hand, it’s true that celebrities could probably donate more than they tend to, and it doesn’t seem quite right for millionaires and billionaires to encourage an average income earner to donate. On the other hand, some may overestimate how much a celebrity truly has to give or underestimate how beneficial it can be for a celebrity to draw attention to a fundraiser.
So what happens when a celebrity parent tries to fundraise for their kid’s sports team like other parents?
Why did Alyssa Milano start a GoFundMe?
On January 25, 2024, Milano took to X to share a link to a GoFundMe campaign she organized under her married name, Alyssa Bugliari. In the brief caption, she explained that her son’s baseball team was fundraising for a Cooperstown trip and encouraged users to donate to help the team.
The GoFundMe provided further details about the baseball team’s passion for the sport and explained donations would go towards “travel costs, uniforms, and dues for families.” It had a goal of $10,000, which it has exceeded by over $5,000 as of this writing. However, it didn’t take long for the outcry to arise as users suggested that Milano pay the travel costs herself. Given her ventures in acting and filmmaking, and her husband’s status as a major Hollywood agent, many assumed the couple should have more than enough money to cover the costs without fundraising.
Milano ended up turning off the comments on her post, and it appears many of the original posts have been deleted. However, as reported by NBC News, Milano received dozens of comments calling her “out of touch” for failing to pay the expenses herself despite her and her husband, David Bugliari, allegedly being “multi-millionaires.” The backlash was so intense that she released a statement on January 26, claiming she had received media inquiries about her contribution to the baseball team. She explained that she had helped pay for uniforms, throw birthday parties, and sponsor kids who couldn’t afford their dues. However, fundraising is just part of the team’s activities, as even the team members do their own fundraising.
On February 1st, Milano took to Instagram to address the backlash again, posting her statement alongside screenshots of comments about the incident that were inappropriately left on her son’s Instagram account. She explained once more that every parent is expected to fundraise in their own way and that she personally can’t afford to cover all the expenses by herself. Of course, she also requested that trolls leave her son alone.
Things eventually died down temporarily. However, the subject blew up again when Milano shared photos revealing she and her son attended this year’s Super Bowl. It’s well known that Super Bowl tickets are not cheap, with this year’s average price being an estimated $8,600 per ticket. The attacks on Milano returned with a vengeance as users accused her of lying about not being able to afford her son’s entire baseball team’s expenses and suggested that those who donated should be refunded.
Is the backlash against Milano warranted?
It’s worth noting that a lot of the backlash Milano received came from prominent conservative accounts on X. Since Milano is politically active and has made her alignment with the Democratic Party very clear, it’s difficult to tell how much genuine criticism Milano has received and how much are conservatives just being eager to trash her for anything. Additionally, USA Today spoke to a psychotherapist and media studies professor, who both suggested that part of the outrage may simply be from growing stress over the state of the economy.
The biggest problem with the backlash is that no one knows Milano’s financial situation, and it isn’t really anyone’s business. She showed a surprising degree of naivete in publicly posting the GoFundMe in the first place and apparently not expecting any criticism, but just because she may be a celebrity doesn’t mean it’s her responsibility to singlehandedly fund her son’s baseball team. Whether she’s providing the money herself or using her influence to fundraise, she’s contributing to the team and doing exactly what other parents are doing.
No one who donated to her son’s team was forced or tricked into doing so. She never tried to hide what the funds were for or mislead anyone about her financial situation. All she did was invite people to contribute if they wanted to in order to help her support a team she doesn’t have financial responsibility for. If Milano wants to set up a fundraiser and there are people who are happy to contribute to the team’s livelihood, it’s hard to see how those decisions concern anyone else.
(featured image: Gregg DeGuire/Golden Globes 2024/Getty)
