Mandy Moore loses her cool as her request for donations for homeless brother-in-law is met with reminders of her net worth

As the Palsides fires ravage California, threatening to jump into Brentwood and, according to the National Weather Service, expected to continue burning at least until early next week, some people are already thinking about how to rebuild.

Unfortunately, for some LA residents, internet users are offering them judgment instead of support. Mandy Moore finally had enough of the judgment and put her foot down, signaling that enough was enough.

The Southern California wildfires were forecast early this year, and residents of the area had already been warned to leave their belongings, houses, and lives as they knew them behind in case the fires could not be contained. But even though people were warned, nobody ever expected to face a situation where they would have to imagine a life without every material belonging they had grown to rely on. Such was the case with Mandy Moore’s in-laws, Griff and Kit Goldsmith, who were expecting their first child any minute. For Griff, a touring musician, this meant losing his entire musical set, which he needed to make a living. The Goldsmiths opted to start a GoFundMe page requesting $60,000 in donations, and, obviously, their most famous relative, Mandy Moore, shared the page on her platform as a form of support for her loving and misfortunate relatives.

In times of crisis, human beings tend to stick together and give everything they can because, for most, it’s understood that nobody deserves to be in such a situation where they have to ask strangers for help in securing a place to live. We also realize that such a situation could happen to any of us. But not everyone thinks this way. For some people, as the LA wildfires burnt through major landmarks, their response was, “someone will repay for that.” And as the fires burned through major celebrity homes, they thought, “well, all the celebrities are rich; this is not tragic.”

So, when Moore shared her brother-in-law’s GoFundMe page and implored her followers to donate, her plea was met with reminders of her mega net worth and criticisms that instead of asking others to give money to her relatives, she should step up and pay for it herself. When the barrage of insensitive comments refused to stop, she turned off the comments on the post. But that did little to dissuade many from jumping on her other posts to make similar comments, thus forcing her to clap back at the negative commentators with a fresh edit to her GoFundMe request post where she advised them to “kindly F-off” as “no one is forcing you to do anything.”

“And people questioning whether we’re helping out our own family or attributing some arbitrary amount of money google says someone has is NOT helpful or empathetic. Of course we are. Our buddy Matt started this go fund me and i’m sharing because people have asked how they can help them.”

Moore has also lost her house in the still blazing California wildfires that have spread to Encino and Brentwood. But she has still assured that despite the losses she has suffered, she will stand strong with her community and provide every support she can.

Her post is, in no way, pressurizing those unable or unwilling to help, and yet, many thought it was important to harp about her net worth at a time when she is herself coming to terms with everything she has lost but is still trying to be there for her friends and relatives.

It is disheartening to see anyone capable of trolling another at a time like this. Since when, as a community, did we decide that people going through tragedy are not worthy of our compassion? As with all natural disasters, the victims are diverse and come from different walks of life. Regardless of their circumstances, they all equally deserve our empathy and support.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the California wildfires, resources and support are available through the American Red Cross at redcross.org.