Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and other celebrities have donated $1M to SAG relief fund

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and other celebrities have donated $1M to SAG relief fund. 

Major stars donated $1M each to the SAG relief fund including:

• Oprah

• Meryl Streep

• Nicole Kidman

• Leonardo DiCaprio

• Luciana & Matt Damon

• Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck

• Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively

• Hugh Jackman & Deborra-lee Furness

As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, some of the most influential names in the entertainment business are reaching into their pockets and gifting hefty donations to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program. On Wednesday (Aug. 2), SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance announced that the Emergency Financial Assistance Program has raised more than $15 million in the past three weeks. The SAG-AFTRA foundation has served as an independent charity since 1985, and provides relief aid to eligible SAG-AFTRA performers in unexpected financial crises.

Johnson helped kick-start the campaign with a seven-figure donation, Vance said, noting that Streep and George Clooney, two longtime supporters of the foundation and leaders of its Actors Council, then “stepped up with $1 million donations, emails, and many calls to action rallying others to give generously. We’ve crushed our initial goal because our people are coming together, but we still aren’t done. Our fundraising will continue in order to meet the overwhelming needs of our community now and in the future.”

Streep and Clooney called on the companies to end the strikes. The Writers Guild struck the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on May 2, followed by SAG-AFTRA on July 14.

Among the top donors who have given $1 million or more are Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively and Luciana and Matt Damon.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — whose Moana hit “You’re Welcome” debuted at No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016 — was the first to donate a seven-figure sum, Vance previously announced in late July.

According to Vance, “The entertainment industry is in crisis and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation is currently processing more than 30 times our usual number of applications for emergency aid. We received 400 applications in the last week alone.”