"Billionaire gives pocket change in a PR stunt". Is the proper title.
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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Taylor Swift donates $100K to 2-year-old battling cancer: ‘Sending the biggest hug’
(www.independent.co.uk)
I heard Taylor almost has $2 billion or so.
That's the equivalent of someone with $100,000 donating five bucks.
She has 2 billion in cold hard cash?
No no no, billionaires don’t store their wealth in cash, that’s what poor people do.
Rich people can afford stocks which allow them to make money on stored money rather than have it decrease in value from inflation like cash does
If billionaires paid more taxes we could all get healthcare
Don't yall already spend more per capita for health care than the developed nations? I'm not saying don't tax the fuck outta billionaires, but the USA should already have a single payer Healthcare system
Had a friend/coworker, whose family is more than well off, say, "I don't want my money paying for someone else's healthcare!"
"How do you think insurance works?"
She stared at me, jaw agape.
"How much do you and Shawn pay for your family's health insurance?"
Staring.
She had no clue because the cost was below her income horizon. The very next day she was outside my office bitching to her friend about her migraine shots costing $1,000 a pop and they couldn't really afford that. Oh god, I couldn't resist.
In passing: "How's that health care system working for ya?"
More stares.
I know, and everyone clapped. But this women was outrageously attractive, pretty smart, very nice and sociable, no one ever contradicted her. Had great fun poking her now and again. The look of shock on her face was hilarious.
"Can you do $outrageously_stupid_insecure IT thing for me?"
"No way I'm doing that."
Stares.
"Go ask my boss (her brother-in-law) if that's a good idea. If he agrees, I'll do it."
Stares.
Still giggling about her 7-years later. Sometimes life hands you material. :)
Yup. Muricans pay 14k$ per capita while the rest of the developed world pays 5-8k$ per capita.
Yes we should but some people would make less money that way, can't have that
If billionaires paid more taxes we could all get healthcare
And if we had representatives that would vote to use that money for healthcare instead of using it on the military or a new ball room and instead line their pockets with lobbyist ~~bribes~~ donations.
Sending that much money to a two year old doesn't make sense. They literally have no concept of money or social responsibility. Why send money when the kid clearly needs a Dr.
/s
Charity from billionaires always looks so fake. Just send it anonymously. Otherwise its just a publicity stunt.
If her entire fortune was $100000 she would have given $6.25. A handful of pocket change and a fiver. Yet I don't get articles by the independent written about me when I give an unhoused veteran a $20
I'm glad that someone in her position did less than the absolute bare minimum to help that child's family. What a moving gesture.
I agree with you except if I was a super fan of the rich person sending money.
If Sigourney Weaver or Gillian Anderson want to pay for my CPAP machine, I’d like to know if they’ll also autograph it.
Sigourney and Gillian aren't billionaire capitalists, they're wealthy because they're talented actresses. Their talent makes the owners of production companies lots of money, and they're paid a fraction of it. But they still have to find someone to buy their labor. They had to audition to get jobs before they were big stars.
TS's dad bought a record label and signed her to it.
Class analysis can be tricky, especially the entertainment industry, but it isnt always about being rich or not. The surest way to tell is "what is the relationship to production?" Tay is a billionaire because she helped ticketmaster and Live Nation create a monopoly, she's a parasite. Without Gillian and Sigourney, the movies and shows they worked in wouldn't be as good.
Yeah the article said she did it quietly. If that were true we wouldn't know about it. You're right: publicity stunt
For all that leftist talk, lemmy is as billionaire-polluter-taxoptimizer-celebrity starstruck as everywhere else. On the bright side, since you're a bit slow she might send some pocket change your way.
Meanwhile, in other countries, two year olds don’t need the permission of billionaires to survive.
singer quietly donated the sum to the two-year-old girl...
Yeah quietly enough so articles are written about it
She got found out. Far as I can tell she donates anonymously. Worked for a rich family that did the same. They honestly took Jesus' admonition to give to the poor and STFU about it. Conservative Southern Baptist, if you can believe that. :)
I know, although tbf she kept quiet when she reached out to the families of the little girls murdered in Merseyside
You know about it, so it wasn't quiet.
It really was and it was released by a families social media not her.
And that's how you achieve a proper PR stunt.
It wouldn't look good otherwise and her PR people know this, a billionaire obviously employs the best.
The donation could have been made completely anonymously. But it clearly wasn't. Why?
How would anyone ever find out an anonymous donation?
I see it differently for several reasons, but understand where you're coming from.
If she's go great, where are the scholarships, hospitals, schools, grants, etc that can help the masses? She could fund so much! Start resources for underserved students and communities. We have a social obligation to our fellow humans. Why? Because we decided to form and live in societies. We wouldn't live together if we all believed it was every man for himself. If I pay so many taxes that I need to live paycheck to paycheck, then people making more need to pay more taxes. Don't tell me they earned it and deserve the billions. You have no idea how much value I create for my employer. I deserve to have basic necessities met without going into debt.
You and I don't have a clue about her charity because she keeps it quiet. Not only is that the morally correct stance, it keeps people like you from beating her up because, "Not good enough!"
All billionaires are bad, mkay?
Still don't care that a billionaire is doing "charitable works". It's wrong that anyone has to depend on the graces of the wealthy to notice a go fund me to afford healthcare.
She's a billionaire, so for comparison, this is akin to someone who's net worth is 100k, donating 10 Eur. Hardly something worth writing puff articles about.
Well that's nice! Time to read the comments that I predict will be nothing but whineing about it!
Your prediction was accurate
Donating that same money to cancer research will save dozens if not hundreds of less photogenic lives, young and old.
Considering the health care costs in USA, how many months does 100,000 buy if you’re not 100% covered by insurance?
Like 3 days worth of cancer treatment.
When is she going to deny being a white supremacist rather than suing the people reporting her ties to them?
Also this is like 20 bucks to her.
You know this is 100% a way to distract from the lightning bolt necklace debacle.
wow - how is this even a debate - she straight up released an SS necklace and there are people genuinely going "hmm idk about this"??
No-talent billionaire tries to salvage public image.
Come on. You don’t have to like her music, but you can’t claim she’s no-talent.
Her father bought her a music studio after she failed to gain recognition. If it wasn't for her family's existing wealth, there would had been a possibility thwt we may have never heard of her.
Taylor Swift music is generic white woman fantasy mixed in with her ability to fool her fans into buying multiple copies of the same album. There's Fandom that are toxic, then there's hers who drown out any valid criticisms of the artist.
She's also a MAGA incognito, surrounds herself with MAGAts. Like that saying; if youre having dinner with nazi's, what does that make you?
Her Taylor’s Version albums are actually pretty cool. It’s a big middle finger to the music industry that basically swindled her out of the rights to her own music because she was early in her career.
Nah, she had the opportunity to re buy her master's much earlier and chose not to to milk it for drama
When you say buy her masters, do you mean the physical masters or the rights to that audio? From what I understand, the company who owned the rights wouldn’t sell them to her.
Listen, I’m not making value statements about her music or her ethics or her politics or anything. I, as a musician, am saying you can’t call her “no-talent.”
If it wasn't for her family's existing wealth, there would had been a possibility thwt we may have never heard of her.
That’s not unique. The most famous in many fields had a helping hand, because success can be expensive. Wealth does not preclude talent or skill. A person can be talented or skilled and come from a wealthy background. In fact, it tends to be common in music because wealthy parents have the resources to get their kids training and instruments at a young age.
Taylor Swift music is generic white woman fantasy
Again, you don’t have to like her music to acknowledge her talents. She’s an accomplished singer/songwriter, performer, and musician regardless of whether you like her content.
There's Fandom that are toxic, then there's hers who drown out any valid criticisms of the artist.
“Her music is generic white woman fantasy” is valid criticism. The “therefore she has no talent” part isn’t.
She's also a MAGA incognito, surrounds herself with MAGAts. Like that saying; if youre having dinner with nazi's, what does that make you?
I don’t really know anything about her politics. I do recall a video of her arguing with her publicist and parents because she wanted to support a Democrat. But this is an irrelevant non-sequitur. Even if a person were a card carrying member of the Nazi party, they could still be talented.
If it were as easy as having rich, industry parents Jayden Smith would have an Oscar by now.
She’s really not talented though. Her performances lean heavily on elaborate set pieces and fifty costume changes. She can barely dance, has the most generic singing voice, minimal vocal range, and she still writes songs like a 20-year-old despite being 36 years old at this point. The most adversity she’s ever faced is “x celebrity was mean to me”. She has no artistic perspective and nothing interesting to say.
In the grand scheme of things, there are hundreds of THOUSANDS of people with more talent than her making art right this moment. I know several personally and I’m not even any kind of name in the industry.
Her performances lean heavily on elaborate set pieces and fifty costume changes.
And this means she has no talent because…?
She can barely dance
Neither can most choral singers, orchestral musicians, concert pianists, does that make them untalented?
has the most generic singing voice, minimal vocal range
Ah yes, famously it is impossible to be a talented mezzo-soprano.
she still writes songs like a 20-year-old despite being 36 years old at this point. The most adversity she’s ever faced is “x celebrity was mean to me”. She has no artistic perspective and nothing interesting to say.
Valid criticism! But it doesn’t mean she isn’t talented.
In the grand scheme of things, there are hundreds of THOUSANDS of people with more talent than her making art right this moment.
Sure, but does that mean she has no talent? There are lots of numbers bigger than 74, does than mean 74 is 0?
I can’t play an instrument and sing at the same time. I also can’t dance. And there are MILLIONS of people more talented than I am in the world, making art. Does that mean I have no talent? Someone should really let the symphony chorus I’ve been singing in for the last 16 years know.
The world isn’t black and white, my friend. You don’t have to be Weird Al or Geddy Lee or Mozart to be talented.
My god, some of the takes in this thread are straight childish. Thanks for hitting back with reality.
So, what's a "mezzo-soprano"?
Someone sounds jealous…