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09th Mar 2022

Leonardo DiCaprio donates money to Ukraine

Kieran Galpin

This story has been corrected – please follow the link to the updated version

Leonardo DiCaprio makes donation to Ukraine after incorrect reports published

Leonardo DiCaprio is said to have made donations to humanitarian organisations supporting Ukraine after earlier reports falsely suggested he had contributed £7.6m to the country.

According to the Associated Press, the A-lister has donated to the humanitarian groups CARE, International Rescue Committee, the United Nation‘s High Commissioner for Refugees, and Save the Children in support of Ukraine. It is not known how much DiCaprio donated.

On March 8, Polish News published a non-deleted story saying that DiCaprio donated $10m (£7.6m) to his grandmother’s native country of Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion since February 24.

The story was widely covered, including by Joe.co.uk.

It has since emerged that the story was not correct. JOE apologies for the error and acknowledges that mistakes were made in verifying the original report.

Grandma

DiCaprio isn’t the only one to be donating huge amounts of money to the Ukrainian cause. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were some of the first celebrities to pledge donations, announcing the news on their personal social media accounts.

Taking to Twitter, Reynolds wrote: “In 48 hours, countless Ukrainians were forced to flee their homes to neighboring countries. They need protection. When you donate, we’ll match it up to $1,000,000, creating double the support.”

 

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Mila Kunis and husband Ashton Kutcher also pledged to match donations up to $3m.

Kunis, who was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, spoke to her Instagram followers about her pride for her home country.

“The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity,” she said on Instagram live.

“I have always considered myself an American, a proud American. I love everything this country has done for myself and my family. But today, I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.”

 

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Supermodel Gigi Hadid has also pledged to donate her earnings from fall 2022 fashion shows, stating that it’s “to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine.”

She added: “Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice. May we all see each other as brothers and sisters, beyond politics, beyond race, beyond religion. At the end of the day, innocent lives pay for war—not leaders.”

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