As Kaiser covered earlier, several celebrities donated to the UK Justice and Equality Fund after the “Dear Sisters” open letter was published in the Guardian this weekend. The letter, signed by over 200 female UK actors, demands an end to sexual harassment in all workplaces. One of the first, and largest, contributions was made by Emma Watson who donated one million pounds (about $1.4 million) to the cause.
Harry Potter pal Emma Watson just donated $1.4 million to a British fund established to battle sexual harassment and support its victims.
The announcement about Watson’s donation, along with contributions from several other celebrities, to the UK Justice and Equality Fund followed the publication of a “Dear Sisters” open letter in The Guardian on Saturday. The letter was signed by some 200 women in the British entertainment industry and called on people everywhere to stand in solidarity with Hollywood’s Times Up initiative to fight sexual harassment and inequality.
“It’s easy to dismiss harassment and abuse as being caused by ‘one or two … bad men,’ but the UK statistics point to a much bigger and more structural problem. The issue is systemic,” Watson told The Guardian.
Emma is currently working and was not able to attend the BAFTAs, which was hard for her because she wanted to support the Time’s Up movement in person. Earlier this year, she showed her support at the Golden Globes, to which she brought Marai Larasi, the executive director of Imkaan as her date. Since she couldn’t be at the BAFTA’s, she recorded this video for Twitter and called for awareness and donations:
We are bringing it home to the UK! @timesupnow
Link here and in my bio to donate to the UK Justice and Equality fund. https://t.co/90ymNXxElk pic.twitter.com/D5Ebz48KAn
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) February 18, 2018
Emma’s donation was literally half the Justice and Equality Fund’s goal. Sure, Emma can easily afford it, but it is still a huge statement to make for something she obviously believes passionately in. First, it helps financially, of course, and let’s face it, financial support is vital for any organization. But by dropping that much money right out of the gate, it assures that her donation will make the headlines, which, by extension, which will bring exposure to the fund. Emma is pretty savvy about her donations and her endorsements. She knows how to make sure they make the biggest impact.
You can donate to the fund here and if you are maxed out financially, please spread the word.
Photo credit: WENN Photos, Twitter and Getty Images
Good for her.
I am a little older than Emma and it has been such a pleasure to watch her grow up. I am so in awe of who she has become and the grace with which she navigated youth and fame and maturity.
I feel the same. We can only wish that for every Lindsay Lohan, there is an Emma.
just to think people judged her for taking a year off to learn more about feminism.
she’s got a good head on her shoulders, and I am not surprised by this!!
great role model
People judged her because it was not like she was drowning in offers for great movies.
Let’s be real. She’s one of the few celebrities that believes in the causes she supports and will take criticism and learn. She’s lovely.
True. For some reason I couldn’t stand her years ago but she has grown on me exponentially because she usually puts her wallet where her mouth is. Which cannot be said of many others.
Agreed. And she got criticism for her beyonce comments and intersectional feminism. Instead of shutting down she asked questions and let people respond. I think she’s open to continuing to grow.
yes!!
True. She’s been saying she was a feminist for over a decade now, ie literally since before she was even an adult (I remember her saying it during the press tour for one of the middle Harry Potter movies).
And she’s been putting her money where her mouth is ever since – I have a lot of respect for the fact that she’s not only committed to this cause, she’s also taken criticism really well. She may have been born into a life of privilege, but she’s trying to do good things with that.
That said – I hope she’s paying her taxes and not offshoring any more Because it’s not like the UK is suffering from a brutal set of cuts to taxpayer-funded public services or anything…. (it is)
Wow! Good for her.
I felt quite badly for her when those pictures of her out to dinner with Weinstein kept circulating and the…implication…that was being made. This is the best way to move forward, focus on the future and change.
Emma Watson is one of the good ones.
Love her. Good for her!
Being able to afford something does not mean we always have the heart for it. I applaud Emma for not just believing but actively contributing in the cause, specially where it needs fortification the most.
i just love her. one of the few celebs who actually tries to do something good with the voice she’s so lucky to have, and uses her social media platform to actually accomplish that instead of using it as a vanity tool.
Wow–that’s some donation!
Makes Tom Hiddleston’s 10 K seem rather paltry.
But at least he did donate.
To be fair I think Tom has a lot less money than her. She had all those Potter movies as a main character and then a 1 billion Beauty and the Beast.
@StillTotalled – what an unnecessarily nasty and uncalled for comment. As you say, at least he did donate so no need for the shade. How much have other actors (male) donated? IE Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, etc.
Personally I have grave doubts as to how much of a difference this fund will make to the cause of educating folks – I worry about how we will hear the money has been used at some timin the future.
@Spidee
Wow, that really went South! I’m a Total Dragonfly, I was just stunned at the amount she donated. And I wanted to note that Tom had put his money where his mouth is. Should have noted that his was one of the largest donations.
I certainly didn’t mean it as critical as it came out–no excuses, I didn’t think it through.
I hate playing “whose is bigger”, but if you compare Knightley and Hiddleston’s donations to others in their industry, they really stepped up. I recognized a few big names on the GoFundMe donation list, including some that have been singled out in the press as strong feminist voices, and was surprised (not in a good way) by the size of their donations. It’s still early days for the campaign, but I also noticed how many signers of the letter hadn’t actually donated – unless they donated anonymously, which seems odd.
https://www.gofundme.com/Justice-and-Equality-Fund
@jetlagged, to add to your point, £10,000 is £10,000. A lot of money. It could just as easily be argued that Emma should have put the initial 2 million in herself because she can probably afford it. Either way I don’t particularly understand the argument that when donating you must give the maximum you can – it ignores many factors such as other charitable causes, sustainability etc. Let’s be honest, none of us donate as much as we “could”.
And despite that… £10,000 is £10,000, which is very generous and very helpful.
Keira also gave 10 K, so? And Emma Thompson only 500 pounds. Do you have problem with her? There’re celebs who donate 100, 50. It isn’t competition. Tom and Keira are 2nd biggest donation after Emma W. It is important that all this people want to help. Your comment was so pointless.
Good on Emma. Still remember that speech she made in support of feminism. Our daughter is her age. She was very inspired to see Hermione grow up and defend equal rights!
Bravo to her for not only speaking about change but providing funds to help that change…inspiring! Times up has been a great opportunity for women to show their support for one another and it means a lot when you see an actress who walks the talk. I follow a celebrity on Instagram who has been very vocal about Times up and constantly posts about it. So imagine my heartache and confusion when she proudly posted after party pics celebrating with Johnny Depp. She only deleted after she was dragged in the comments and offered no explanation or apology…it was just beyond disheartening. Again bravo to a Emma for taking a stand and putting her money where her mouth/heart is.