Months after the massive celebrity benefit concert for victims of the historic Los Angeles wildfires, many locals are wondering: Where’s the money?
In January, hurricane-force winds and bone-dry terrain fueled the Eaton fire in Altadena and the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in a matter of days as more than 18,000 structures – mostly homes – were damaged or destroyed. Thirty-one people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced, with the damage standing at an estimated $250 billion.
The FireAid Concert
On January 31, dozens of Hollywood’s biggest stars turned out for FireAid, a benefit concert featuring performances from Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, and more. Celebrities urged viewers throughout the evening to donate to the cause and promised that direct relief would go to those impacted by the fires.
“Please go to FireAidLA.org and give what you can; all of the money raised will go directly to people who need it now” was the common refrain of the night, and the event raised an estimated $100 million. In the weeks that followed, FireAid was hailed as a triumph of celebrity-driven charity.
But months later, many locals were wondering where the money went. Some of those impacted by the fires recently told FOX 11 Los Angeles they expected to hear from the organization or see the benefits in some way but have not.
Show Me the Money
Independent journalist Sue Pascoe, editor of Circling the News, started digging into the FireAid fundraiser after a reader reached out to her with a simple question: How do I apply for help?
On Monday’s AM Update, Pascoe explained that she started calling the Annenberg Foundation because the organization was “supposedly sort of in charge of the sort of the grant process.” After several failed attempts, she heard back from someone who told her to talk to the media spokesperson for FireAid.
“I called Chris Wallace, who is a media spokesperson, and I said, ‘How do people apply for it,'” she recalled. “And he said, ‘People don’t apply for it. It’s going to nonprofits. This is not for individuals.'”
That revelation shocked Pascoe given the way the benefit was promoted, so she began looking into where the money went. What she discovered was a host of grant recipients who appear to have little to no connections to fire relief at all.
“Supposedly, there are more than 100 [groups] that got the money,” Pascoe explained. “There are some that clean preschool bathrooms… There are all these food organizations, many whom I’ve never heard of before, that got money mixed in with some very reputable ones. Then there was money that went to L.A. city foundations. There was money that went to L.A. County. There was money that went to, like, the Native California voter organization. There’s a bunch more that went to immigrants for whatever reason. There are some non-profits… not even based in Los Angeles. How is this money going to the victims?”
Pascoe’s reporting has generated significant media traction, with President Donald Trump posting to Truth Social days after she appeared on FOX 11 L.A. to share her findings. The president called FireAid “a total disaster” and “another Democrat-inspired scam,” which led the organization to claim it does not have the ability to make direct payments to individuals and never intended to distribute the money that way.
In a lengthy response on its website, FireAid said, in part, “there has been an increasing amount of misinformation being shared online about the distribution of FireAid funds… Together, we raised an estimated $100 million that have been designated for direct relief and will not be used for administrative purposes.”
Under the frequently asked questions section, one entry asks, “Does FireAid award grants to individuals directly?” The answer claims, “Yes, through local nonprofits and organizations who have the infrastructure and experience to support individuals and families.” So, in other words, no.
FireAid has since hired a law firm to conduct a comprehensive review of the governance and grant-making process. But so far, the group claims it has given $75 million to 160 organizations – including food banks, community groups, and disaster relief – that was checked out by Goldman Sachs’ Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund to ensure their good standing. Recipients will also be required to report on fund usage by December, and those results are set to be audited by KPMG.
Pascoe acknowledged that some legitimate groups received funds, but she said that is not the point. “The concert was marketed as direct relief for families who lost everything. Their website now says, ‘We have to stop all this misinformation that’s going about. We never said it was going to be for victims.’ Well, yes, you did. All the performers said it was going to be for victims,” she noted. “And they’ve hired a law firm now to defend them against all this ‘misinformation.’ Well, no, just give the money to the victims.”
“They say, ‘Well, we are not equipped to do that,'” Pascoe added. “Why not? The Red Cross… gave everyone impacted by the fire here and, I believe, in Altadena some money. Why couldn’t they do that? Why couldn’t they give cash to the victims? There is no reason.”
Demanding Accountability
Pascoe said she reached out to about 20 of the organizations on the list of recipients with simple questions about whether they received money from FireAid and what they have used it for, but the vast majority never replied to her.
“I got two replies. One was from a very sweet organization that talked about how they had helped an individual in Altadena,” Pascoe said. “Then, I got another response from someone who said, ‘Take me off your mailing list.’ And I got no more responses.”
In Pascoe’s view, this is about accountability – and that needs to come from an investigation. “I think it’s going to have to come from some attorney general or someone who is going to have to ask for an accounting or take some legal steps,” she shared. “I think I’ve exposed that victims didn’t get the fire aid. It was marketed as for victims and it was marketed incorrectly.”
AM Update reached out to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office in California for comment, but did not receive a reply. In July, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting an investigation. The Department of Justice has yet to respond.
All the while, Wired reported some 11,000 home dwellings were destroyed in the fires and, as of early July, less than 200 homeowners have received permits to rebuild.
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