The cynics out there may find it easy to dismiss celebrities’ charitable acts as a ruse to generate some feel-good PR. Yet some stars really do go above and beyond when it comes to undertaking genuinely heartwarming acts of kindness to help others.
From the stars who surprise terminally-ill fans to those who have launched their own charitable foundations, read on to discover the famous faces who have been amazingly generous with their time and money. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Back in 2017 Fiona Asiedu was an Oxford University student who had dreams of studying for her master's degree in Human Development and Psychology at Harvard Graduate School of Education in America. Looking at how much she would need to cover tutition and expenses she fell short by £12,000 ($15,710) and so she set up a crowdfunding page.
British rapper Stormzy came across the campaign and helped Asiedu smash her target: he initially shared the crowdfunding page on his Twitter account before deciding to donate £9,000 ($11,320) of his own money.
In response to Stormzy's generous donation Asideu's friend tweeted the rapper in appreciation saying: "Let me take you [to] Nando's," to which he replied: "deal!"
Education is clearly important to the rapper. In 2018 he launched his Stormzy Scholarship, which has since provided funding for more than 30 Black or mixed-race heritage students to attend Cambridge University, in partnership with HSBC Bank.
Taylor Swift's devoted fans – also known as "Swifties" – have enjoyed various surprises from their hero over the years.
In 2014, for example, a hand-picked selection of mega fans were chosen for "Swiftmas", which saw the Shake It Off singer send them Christmas gifts including merchandise, vouchers, beauty products, and personalised notes.
The pop star has been known to give generous sums of money to various causes. In 2016, following the tragic death of an 18-year-old fan called Katie Beth Carter, Swift donated $5,000 (£3,975) towards the cost of her funeral via a GoFundMe page. In a message written to Katie's sister Kimi, Taylor said: "No words could express how sorry I am for your loss. I know that you will keep Katie's memory alive. Please know how much I am thinking of you and saying a prayer for your family. All my love, Taylor."
In 2018 Swift also gave a $15,500 (£12,285) donation to the crowdfunding page of fan Sadie Bartell, whose mother had been in a coma for three years. Opening up about the unexpected gift on her Facebook page, Bartell said: "She has been there for me more than anyone. I really, truly, would not be who I am without her. She shows up every time I need her. She always has and she always will. I wish that I could express how much it means to me that ANYONE has helped my family over the years, let alone Taylor. She is the light at the end of the tunnel and is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me."
The Harry Potter books have inspired countless children around the globe, but J.K. Rowling, the author behind the chart-topping series, has also played an important role in some of her readers' lives.
Rowling began a friendship with an eight-year-old fan called Catie Hoch, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was worried that she wouldn't get to read the fourth book. Her mother contacted Rowling's publishers to ask when it would be finished and, to Catie's delight, Rowling replied. The pair struck up a friendship, emailing back and forth.
Catie's condition sadly deteriorated and, realising that she wouldn't live to see the fourth book come out, Rowling read unpublished extracts to her over the phone so that she could hear the story. When Catie passed away in spring 2000 Rowling donated $100,000 (£80k) to the memorial fund created in the little girl's name.
Rowling also helped Bana Alabed (pictured), who in 2016 was living in war-torn Syria and desperate to get read the Harry Potter books. Big-hearted Rowling sent Bana eBook versions of the novels instead, which a delighted Bana was able to read via a mobile phone.
George Michael had a global fanbase, a string of instantly recognisable hits and a fortune worth millions. After his untimely passing on Christmas Day 2016 many stories about his incredible generosity came to light.
For example: in one unbelievable act of kindness back in 2012, the singer donated 1,000 free tickets to his Symphonica tour to hospital staff in Vienna after they treated him for pneumonia. On another occasion he organised a free concert for British nurses to thank them for looking after his mother.
As a tweet from British TV star Richard Osman revealed, Michael also secretly donated £15,000 ($18,925) to a total stranger. The woman, who was a contestant on game show Deal Or No Deal, which Osman worked on as a producer at the time, revealed on air that she came on the show to make money for IVF treatment. The singer contacted the TV show the next day and gave her the cash.
It was also revealed he volunteered undercover in a homeless shelter, asking staff to keep the work a secret. The late singer had also given away millions of pounds anonymously to causes including helping people with disabilities, children living in poverty, and AIDS sufferers.
Before actor Zach Galifianakis shot to fame as Alan in The Hangover he'd been a struggling actor and comedian based in LA.
As he tried to get his big break he frequented a laundromat called Fox Laundry where he befriended an employee, the elderly Elizabeth "Mimi" Haist. Once he became a movie star Galifianakis had no need to visit the laundromat anymore – although when he heard that Mimi had become homeless he decided to help her.
The actor found Mimi an apartment and, along with his friend and fellow Hollywood star Renee Zellweger, helped her to furnish it, bought food for the fridge and paid her rent and bills.
The then 87-year-old Mimi accompanied Galifianakis to the Hangover III premiere in 2013, and even became a star in her own right: a documentary called Queen Mimi was released in 2015 and told her rags-to-riches story.
Grammy-winning Adele has captured the hearts of people around the globe with her incredible voice, and the star's good deeds give fans even more reasons to adore her.
Glamour magazine reported that the singer was on a "good deed marathon" during her 2016 world tour. At her concerts she invited a newly-engaged couple to join her on stage for a romantic rendition of her hit Make You Feel My Love, as well as beckoning Emily Tammam, a 12-year-old with autism, ADHD and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, to sing with her. Adele also visited the Ireland home of Rebecca Gibney, a seriously ill 12-year-old fan who was too unwell to attend her concert.
But Adele's heartfelt surprises don't end there. Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017 she went to Chelsea Fire Station to say thanks to the firefighters who had dealt with the blast, bringing cakes and observing a minute's silence in honour of the victims. She also comforted families of the tragedy's victims at a vigil held the next day.
With an impressive acting résumé that includes roles in The Help, Ma and Dolittle, actress Octavia Spencer is at the top of her game. But that doesn't mean she's forgotten her roots.
In January 2017 the actress bought out an entire screening of her then newly-released movie Hidden Figures, which follows the story of the Black female scientists who worked at NASA and played a vital role in the space race.
Rather than hosting a private viewing party for friends or celebrity guests, Spencer purchased the tickets to allow families with low incomes to attend for free, explaining in an Instagram caption: "My mom would not have been able to afford to take me and my siblings. So I'm honoring her and all single parents this [Martin Luther King Day weekend] Pass the word."
If you want to brighten your day just watch one of the videos of Johnny Depp visiting kids in hospital. Not only does the Pirates of the Caribbean actor dress in his full Captain Jack Sparrow attire but he also gets completely into character, putting more than a few smiles on patients' faces.
London's Great Ormond Street Hospital has had various visits from Depp dressed as the iconic fictional pirate. Having previously admitted his daughter to the hospital in 2007 when she was suffering with kidney failure, Depp landed on the dressing-up idea as a way to say thank you.
He has visited other institutions too, including BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, where he reportedly spent five hours posing for photos and entertaining children.
Who doesn't love Tom Hanks? The actor has committed various good deeds over the years, including helping a trio of Girl Scouts he met in the street sell cookies by agreeing to pose for photos with passers-by only once they'd bought some of the treats.
In 2013 he also made headlines when he met Sarah Moretti, a fan with autism who had compiled a scrapbook of all things Hanks-related. In a video of their meet-up, Hanks is heard joking "Look how young I was!" while looking at the photos in the scrapbook, as well as remarking: "Oh, sweetie, how wonderful it is to meet you."
Hanks's kindness doesn't end there. In November 2017, at a signing for his anthology of short stories, Uncommon Type: Some Stories, the actor interrupted a Q&A session with the audience to announce that he had a question of his own.
Hanks's query concerned two audience members, Nikki Young and Ryan McFarling. "Nikki, will you marry me?" Hanks asked at the request of McFarling, who had asked him to pop the question on his behalf to his super-fan girlfriend. The pair then came on stage and McFarling got down on one knee to finish the proposal.
Rapper Drake changed the life of a fan forever when he offered to pay for her tuition fees at the University of Miami to the tune of $50,000 (£39.6k).
Destiny James had been applying for countless scholarships without much luck, so when she was offered the chance to apply for one more grant via video she seized the opportunity. She was asked to describe her background and explain her need for a scholarship, and gave it her very best shot...
Unbeknown to James, the opportunity had been arranged by Drake, who appeared midway through filming the video to offer her the money. The footage is included as part of Drake's God's Plan music video, which sees the rapper surprise several fans with incredible acts of generosity.
James says the money changed her life and has enabled her to pursue a master's degree after she finished her undergraduate studies. She told Entertainment Tonight that Drake's scholarship paid for her final year of university and "it was hands down the best year I've had in college, because I didn't have to worry about trying to work mutiple jobs, to make sure that I have money."
From Miley Cyrus to Lady Gaga, some of the world's biggest stars have been heavily involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity that allows terminally ill children to fulfil their dreams.
In September 2017, for example, Justin Bieber met the then eight-year-old Ruby Varley (pictured), who was born with a congenital heart problem. Make-A-Wish flew Ruby and her family to Switzerland and paid for their tickets to watch the singer in concert, before Ruby got to head backstage to meet him. The singer "got right down to her level and just made it all about her", according to Ruby's mother. According to reports, no star has granted more wishes than the wrestler John Cena: he's said to have made the dreams of over 650 children come true via the charity since 2004.
British singer Jessie J is also an active patron of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The star has described the organisation as "the most inspiring charity I've ever been able to work with."
According to reports, no star has granted more wishes than the wrestler and actor John Cena: he's said to have made the dreams of over 650 children come true via the charity since 2004.
Sir Elton John established his eponymous Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992. He was inspired to fight the disease after the death of Indiana-born teen Ryan White, who challenged perceptions of HIV sufferers when he was barred from returning to school following his diagnosis.
Every year John hosts a series of star-studded events to raise money for the organisation, including his legendary Academy Awards Viewing Party. He's also an outspoken advocate for the importance of HIV testing.
Over the last 30 years the Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised more than $600 million (£458m), which has funded HIV/AIDS programmes in 55 countries around the world.
Along with his husband David, the musician also set up the Elton John Charitable Trust (EJCT) in 2007 to provide funding to charities outside of HIV/AIDS. EJCT has so far supported more than 100 different causes, ranging from Oxfam to anti-bullying funds.
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has been such an active supporter of the Teenage Cancer Trust that he won the Outstanding Contribution accolade at the Music Week Awards in 2014.
As a longstanding patron of the charity, Daltrey believes that "the disease should be a mere comma in the lives of teenagers, not a devastating full stop." He and fellow band member Pete Townshend have raised millions for the cause over the last 20 years.
As well as supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK, Daltrey and Townshend have taken their work over to the US, founding Teen Cancer America in 2012.
The Who donated $1 (75p) from every ticket sold for their 2015 North American tour to the charity and, four years later, Daltrey opened a new Teen Cancer America facility at Bon Secours St Francis Hospital in South Carolina. He even donated a signed guitar to display there (pictured).
Singer-songwriter Dolly Parton has given millions of dollars to charity, including $1 million (£750k) to fund the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in 2020. And most recently she donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt Medical Center for paediatric infectious disease research.
The iconic star's biggest charitable venture, however, is the Dollywood Foundation: a non-profit which the 9 to 5 singer founded in 1988.
The Dollywood Foundation supports various charities, including Parton's book-gifting initiative, the Imagination Library. Since 2000 the Imagination Library has given more than 150 million books to children across the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, and Australia.
From her recorded donations, which range from emergency relief funds for people affected by wildfires to grants for children's hospitals, it's been estimated that the singer gives away around $1 million (£750k) every year. She's pictured here reading her book, The Coat of Many Colors, to schoolchildren in 2018.
In 2018 actor Gina Rodriguez decided not to keep the money she was given by network The CW to pay for her Emmy campaign. The undisclosed sum would have been used to pay for promotional materials such as billboards, with the aim of securing Rodriguez an Emmy nomination.
Instead she asked to funnel her allotted funds into a four-year college scholarship for an anonymous Latinx student who had been accepted to Princeton University.
Rodriguez has also been awarded a Young Humanitarian award at the unite4:humanity gala in recognition of her philanthropy, which has included working with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Through her non-profit foundation BeyGOOD, Beyoncé has donated money and support to a variety of causes.
In 2021, for example, the organisation teamed up with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to offer 100 housing assistance grants of $5,000 (£3.8k). These were awarded to American families facing eviction due to the pandemic.
BeyGOOD had previously teamed with the NAACP to launch a Small Business Impact Fund, which supported 715 small Black-owned businesses that were struggling due to COVID-19. It has also organised scholarship grants for students at historically Black colleges and universities, partnered with UNICEF to provide clean water in Burundi and helped fund coronavirus testing in Houston, Texas.
Beyoncé is famously quiet when it comes to her private life and a lot of her charity work is kept under wraps. In 2014, however, HuffPost estimated that the star had "quietly" given $7 million (£5.3m) to maintain the Knowles-Temenos Place Apartments in Houston, an apartment complex she helped set up for people who'd been left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.
Actor Michael Sheen made headlines in 2021 when he announced his intention to donate the bulk of his salary to good causes. The star said he aims to become a "not-for-profit actor" after discovering that charitable services in his hometown of Port Talbot, Wales had been cut.
"I realised the difference between that child's life being a little bit better or not was ultimately a small amount of funding. And I wanted to help those people. I didn't just want to be a patron or a supportive voice, I wanted to actually do more than that." he told The Big Issue at the time.
Back in 2019 Sheen made the extraordinary gesture of selling his two homes when the £2 million ($2.6m) funding for the Homeless World Cup – a football tournament organised for homeless people around the world – fell through.
He has pledged to donate a significant chunk of his future earnings to social projects that will better the lives of others, including setting up a £50,000 ($66k) bursary over five years to help Welsh students attend the University of Oxford.
Now discover what the charitable donations of the super-rich have really done for the world
Hollywood power couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis recently raised more than $34 million (£27.5m) for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. The actors started a fundraising page in March and used their social media to appeal for donations, in addition to contributing $3 million (£2.4m) of their own cash to the cause.
Kunis was born in Ukraine but moved to America when she was eight years old. But this isn't the philanthropic couple's only charitable endeavour...
The couple turned their quirky quarantine hobby of winemaking into a philanthropic venture by launching their Outside Wine brand. All profits from the wine were donated to various charities, including Kutcher’s very own anti-human trafficking organisation, Thorn, which he co-founded in 2012 with ex-wife Demi Moore. According to Kunis, they raised around $1 million (£811.6k).
Kutcher revealed he was inspired by the philanthropic efforts of late Hollywood icon Paul Newman. He said, "I’ve always been a huge fan of Paul Newman. Not only was he an unbelievable, extraordinary actor, but he used his position and he used his celebrity in vain to do some extraordinary good in the world through his Newman’s Own project. "
Just like her famous godmother, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus is well known for her kind heart and generosity. In 2018, the star tragically lost her Malibu home that she shared with now ex-husband Liam Hemsworth in the devastating California wildfires.
Despite dealing with her own loss, compassionate Cyrus donate $500,000 (£406.5k) to help others affected by the wildfires. At the time, a rep for Cyrus and Hemsworth said,"Their community and state are very special to them and they want to give back to the place that has created so many beautiful memories for themselves and others."
Cyrus also set up the Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014, which supports LGBT+ and homeless youth, as well as other vulnerable communities. In 2016, along with Liam Hemsworth, she visited San Diego’s Rady Children’s Hospital in honour of her charity and delighted patients by taking selfies with them.
Most recently, the charity teamed with fashion brand Stoney Clover Lane to launch a pride month Rainbow Collection of accessories. All sale proceeds will go towards supporting LGBT+ youth via the Happy Hippie Foundation.
There’s a reason Keanu Reeves is one of Hollywood's best-loved actors. His overwhelming generosity is unparalleled. Naturally, the action star raked in an absolute fortune from The Matrix trilogy, but he gave an estimated $75 million (£60.9m) of his earnings away to the crew so they’d receive a hefty $1 million (£813.2k) bonus for their hard work.
And this isn’t the only instance of Reeves being super generous to his colleagues. When filming on John Wick 4 wrapped, he treated his four-man stunt team to a lavish dinner in Paris and gifted them with $10,000 (£8.1k) worth of Rolex watches to say thank you.
A cause close to Reeve’s heart is cancer research, as, sadly, his sister Kim battled leukaemia. Reeve banked around $45 million (£36.5m) for his performance in 1999’s The Matrix, but reportedly donated a whopping $31.5 million (£25.6m) of his hard-earned salary towards cancer research.
And that’s not all. In an effort to raise money for children's cancer charity Camp Rainbow Gold, the star auctioned off a 15-minute virtual date with him during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The lucky winner forked out a staggering $75,200 (£61k) for the privilege.
Another acting power couple who stepped up to support the Ukraine crisis is Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who pledged to match donations up to $1 million (£813.6k) in support of displaced families in Ukraine back in February. Less than 48 hours after their campaign went live on social media, they hit their target.
In a joint statement, the couple said, "The outpouring of compassion for displaced people from Ukraine has been incredible. We’re proud to support USA for UNHCR and its work to provide emergency supplies, lifesaving care, and hope – but we’re even more proud of the generous community of supporters that joined us. Thanks to them, families will have support, stability, and hope during their darkest moments."
Then, just one month after their generous Ukraine fundraising efforts, the couple donated $500,000 (£406.5k) to Canadian charity Water First Education & Training Inc. The indigenous-focused organisation supports youth to train to operate water treatment plants and takes other measures to ensure safe drinking water for indigenous communities in Canada.
Canadian native Reynolds said, "Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right. Canada is home to over 20 percent of the planet’s freshwater - an abundance that’s envied around the world. There's absolutely no reason indigenous communities should not have access to safe, clean water."