Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson acknowledged why some people were upset online when he and Oprah Winfrey requested donations for a wildfire relief fund they established in Maui in August.
In an Instagram video shared on Sunday, Johnson explained that he'd gained a deeper understanding from the backlash.
Fans had expressed outrage, suggesting that he and Winfrey should contribute more to their fund instead of encouraging others to donate.
"The last thing you want to hear when you are living from paycheck to paycheck is someone asking you for money, especially when the person asking you for money already has a lot of money," Johnson said in the video.
"I get it, and I completely understand, and I could've been better. And next time, I will be better," he added.
On Aug. 31, Johnson and Winfrey unveiled their "People's Fund of Maui" on Instagram, with the goal of raising funds for those impacted by the fires in the area.
They kickstarted the fund by making personal contributions of $5 million each. However, their appeal for donations faced online criticism, as some mentioned they struggled to make ends meet and fulfill their own needs.
"I understand money ain't falling out of the sky, and it's not growing on trees, and there's a lot of people out there who's living paycheck to paycheck. And I get it, and I know what that's like. I've lived paycheck to paycheck," Johnson said in his latest video.
In their August video, Johnson and Winfrey noted that people whose primary homes were affected by the fires in Lahaina and Kula could get $1,200 monthly from their fund.
"The thousands and thousands of survivors, the families they have now, over the past couple of weeks started to receive their first rounds of funds," Johnson said in the Sunday video.
He didn't specify the exact amount of money distributed to residents.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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