Kylie Jenner faced backlash this past weekend after fans criticized her for not footing the full medical bill for celebrity makeup artist Samuel Rauda, who is in the hospital following a car accident. The beauty guru encouraged her fans to donate to the $60,000 GoFundMe after she gave just $5,000 to the fund. Fans took to social media to express their thoughts, saying the multimillionaire, who has worked with Rauda in the past, could have taken care of the whole bill instead of asking others to donate. TMZ reported that Rauda was involved in a bad car accident and needed to undergo brain surgery, and his family started the online fundraiser to help cover his medical expenses. According to Page Six, Jenner shared the GoFundMe to her Instagram Story and encouraged her fans to contribute. “Swipe up to visit his families [sic] go fund me,” she wrote at the time. Under the list of top donations, someone gave $5,000 under the name “kylie jenner.”
This isn’t the first time fans have called out one of their favorite stars for not doing more for others. Fans weren’t happy last year when Pharrell Williams asked his followers to donate to hospitals in need during the pandemic. Kim and Khloé Kardashian were also criticized for not sharing their contributions to the Australian bushfire relief efforts in January 2020. In this case, people on social media seemed to be more appalled that Jenner asked her followers to chip in knowing she’s worth millions. Jenner responded to critics saying she had good intentions from the start. Celebrities have long been allocating their resources to charitable causes, but thanks to social media, they’re now more likely than ever to face criticism for not donating the “right” way. But giving back shouldn’t be expected from anyone, even people like Jenner, who are massively successful. For those who support her, this situation was a reminder that just because people buy her products and contribute to her wealth, it doesn’t mean that she is indebted or obligated to return the favor.
The reality star shared a text post on her Instagram Stories and clarified that Rauda isn’t her makeup artist anymore and that they no longer have a personal relationship. She added that when she made her donation, the campaign had a goal of $10,000, meaning that she donated the remaining $5,000 to help the fund reach its goal.
“I feel it’s important for me to clear up this false narrative that I’ve asked fans for money and am not paying for my makeup artist’s medical bills,” Jenner wrote on her Instagram Stories. “Sam isn’t my makeup artist, and unfortunately, we don’t have a personal relationship anymore, but I have worked with him a few years ago and think he’s the sweetest. I saw my current makeup artist and friend Ariel post about Sam’s accident and his family’s GoFundMe, and I called Ariel immediately to see what happened to Sam. After learning in more detail about the accident, it compelled me to visit his GoFundMe, which was set at 10k. They had already raised 6k so I put in 5k to reach their original goal and thought I’d post on my stories to gain more awareness if anyone also felt compelled to share or donate.”
“I don’t know how all of this got so twisted but his family has reached out through Ariel and are very appreciative of all the donations, prayers, and love towards Sam,” she added. “Anyone that knows me knows that I do things from the heart and I try to be helpful whenever I can be. Let’s all stay positive and keep Sam, his family, and anyone you know who is going through a difficult time in our prayers. I hope you have a beautiful day and let’s encourage each other to help.”
Rauda has also previously worked with Bella Thorne, Bebe Rexha, Olivia Culpo, Doja Cat, among others, and some of those stars also sent money, according to the list of donors. Perhaps her call to action inspired some of her close family friends and wealthy followers to donate as well. Other celebrities with connections to the Kardashian-Jenner empire appeared in the donations list, such as influencer Anastasia Karanikolaou, former Kardashian assistant Steph Shepherd, Sofia Richie, hair colorist Tracey Cunningham, and Kardashian makeup artists Ash K Holm and Huda Kattan. The fundraiser’s goal doubled from $60,000 to $120,000, and as of Wednesday afternoon, it’d collected over $100,000, so her prompt might just have worked.
Jenner is also not a stranger to helping people in need. Before this, she had contributed to several causes. In June 2020, the Kylie Cosmetics founder and her company pledged to give an undisclosed amount to organizations that help support the fight against racism, including Youth Justice Coalition, Black Lives Matter, Campaign Zero, NAACP, and Equal Justice Initiative. The makeup guru and her mother, Kris Jenner, partnered with beauty company Coty Inc. to donate over 6,000 pounds of hand sanitizers to Southern California hospitals last April at the start of the pandemic. A Beverly Hills doctor shared a photo of the hand sanitizers the makeup mogul sent, which came in a clear bottle with a black-and-white Kylie Skin label. The sanitizer donation came after the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star had already donated $1 million to hospitals in need of medical equipment while fighting the virus.
A year later, she announced she was launching a for-profit Kylie Skin hand sanitizer product—and some fans had an issue with her profiting off the pandemic. The spray sanitizer comes in a sleek baby pink bottle, costs $7 for 60 ml, and is already available for sale in the US. Charging more for a product that usually sells for less simply for stamping her name on it while people are struggling seems tone-deaf. She probably dealt with revenue loss by donating 6,000 pounds worth of the sanitizer in 2020, so she had to make up for it somehow. Jenner is a businesswoman after all, and she wants to do what’s best for her company and her bank account. On the other hand, she alone has the capacity and ability to help out so many people in need without it affecting her millions too much.
Other celebrities at her level of wealth, like Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and others, are also often pressured to open up their wallets whenever they speak out about any cause. Fans are in many ways responsible for their success, and they are quick to demand that celebrities put their money where their mouth is. Spreading awareness to millions of people helps in many situations, but so does writing a check. Younger people have become more vocal about rich people hoarding their wealth and have high expectations for the people they love to be supportive of others who are struggling. While $5,000 might be chump change to someone like Jenner, it could be what keeps someone else from winding up homeless.
At age 20, Jenner was worth $900 million and was on track to becoming the youngest self-made billionaire ever. Forbes named her the world’s “youngest self-made” billionaire in 2019 when she was 21 years old. The publication then revoked the title in 2020, saying that they found out that she and her mother had provided misleading information about their business overestimating Jenner’s worth. “Kylie’s business is significantly smaller and less profitable than the family has spent years leading the cosmetics industry and media outlets, including Forbes, to believe.” It doesn’t matter whether or not she’s a billionaire, though. Thanks to her growing beauty empire, she’s still filthy rich and has more money than most people will see in their lifetimes. But is it possible to amass that kind of wealth while also being generous and giving away money?
Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres have made generosity a part of their brand by doing precisely that, and they seem to still be doing well for themselves. Taylor Swift has made a name for herself for quietly giving to causes without publicizing it. Nicki Minaj has paid off her fans’ student loans directly, and Cardi B teamed up with Fashion Nova to help those struggling during the pandemic.
In this case, Jenner was donating to someone she had a professional relationship with, and it almost seems strange for her to share the GoFundMe with her 222 million Instagram fans. She does have other wealthy people following her who could help, but she can’t expect her younger fans to donate to someone they don’t know, right? Then again, even a global pandemic that left nearly half the country unemployed didn’t stop the whole Kardashian-Jenner clan from peddling their products on social media. Her heart might have been in the right place to spread awareness about the fund, but sometimes celebrities are better off donating to these sorts of charities in silence to avoid the scrutiny while still doing their part to help. She is under no obligation to share her wealth with anyone, it’s her money, but it comes down to character, values, and morals. Seeing rich people not do all that they can also send a message to fans about who is and isn’t worth supporting.
