Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has taken to Instagram to address the backlash to his fundraising initiative in the wake of the devastating wildfires in Maui.
Johnson teamed up with Oprah Winfrey in August to launch the People's Fund for Maui, a charity fund he and Winfrey started with $10 million seed money as a place for people to donate money to relief efforts following the fires.
But given that Johnson is said to be worth around $270 million and Winfrey is a multi-billionaire, them asking regular rank-and-file Americans to donate money didn't sit well with... well, nearly anyone.
Over the weekend, Johnson addressed the backlash with a video posted to Instagram.
Johnson told his fans and followers the launch "could have been better," and went on to say:
"I get it. I know what it’s like. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck."
"When you are living paycheck to paycheck, the last thing you want to hear is someone asking you for money, especially when the person asking you for money already has a lot of money.”
Yep, that's pretty much exactly it. And it's a far cry better than the response from Winfrey, who seemed to take the backlash very personally, saying during an interview on CBS Mornings that she felt "terrorized" by the criticism she received, and implying that people should be grateful for her $10 million donation.
On social media, many applauded Johnson's thoughtful response to the uproar.
@TheChiefNerd I have a lot of respect for this response— Forrest (@Forrest) 1696944509
@FoxNews I'm convinced that Dwayne Johnson did not have ill intent here. However, his request, along with Oprah Winfrey's, was kind of off the mark.— Ron Taylor (@Ron Taylor) 1696872268
@VanityFair At least he\u2019s admitting his mistake, albeit lightly, Oprah just blamed the public for the backlash & promoted herself, not a single word that perhaps she\u2019s out of touch with what regular people are living with— The Flower Queen (@The Flower Queen) 1696858128
@FoxNews We forgive you @TheRock— jonnypride1 (@jonnypride1) 1696864508
Apology accepted, \u2066@TheRock\u2069\n\nDwayne Johnson apologizes for asking those living 'paycheck to paycheck' to donate to his Maui wildfire fund | Fox News https://t.co/0ntPa4iQ1P— Ari \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf4 (@Ari \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf4) 1696871704
@dom_lucre Say what you will about the Rock, this is a well executed video. It's also not an apology. This was a smooth way of saying, "thanks for the feedback."— Davis | The Skill Predator (@Davis | The Skill Predator) 1696950697
The Rock even took time to thank people for the backlash, saying that he learned a valuable lesson about how—or maybe how not—to launch a fundraiser, and telling his fans and critics, "I appreciate you."