Kelly Osbourne has accused some celebrities of interacting with victims of the Los Angeles wildfires for “photo ops.”
The 40-year-old reality star recently shared an Instagram video, which has since been deleted, asking her followers: “Is it just me being my normal overthinking cynical self, or is it really disturbing to see all of these celebrities using other people’s pain and suffering as a photo op.
“To say, ‘Look I’m helping, I’m doing this, I’m doing that?’
“I don’t believe you help so that you can get attention for helping. I believe you just help because you want to,” Osbourne continued.
“No one asked you to come out and give hugs. Go home,” she concluded.
While Osbourne didn’t mention any celebrities by name, some in the comments thought she was pointing towards Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who were pictured last week at the Pasadena Convention Center, which is temporarily being used as an evacuation center for people who have lost their homes.
“Well said Meghan and Harry brought a full film crew with them for their own benefit PR stunt,” one viewer wrote.
However, many people disagreed with Osbourne’s take. One person wrote: “It’s just you. There are good ppl out there. Sometimes it takes events such as this to bring communities together.”
“Anybody who is out helping is helping,” another added. “Let’s all keep the hate at bay while the city is trying to heal.”
Osbourne’s video comes days after Justine Bateman called Meghan and Harry “disaster tourists” over their visit to Pasadena.
“Meghan Markle and Harry are no better than ambulance chasers. What a repulsive ‘photo op’ they achieved. They are ‘touring the damage’? Are they politicians now? They don’t live here; they are tourists. Disaster Tourists,” Bateman, best known for roles in sitcoms Family Ties and Arrested Development, wrote on X.
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Along with consoling victims of the wildfires, Meghan was pictured speaking with Mayor Gordo and Doug Goodwin, whose home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire, in Altadena. Both Meghan and Harry were also seen hugging José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, which has been distributing free hot meals to the public and emergency crews.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex aren’t the only celebrities who’ve publicly supported victims of the wildfires. On January 10, Jennifer Garner was seen volunteering alongside Andrés in an effort to feed those who had been evacuated from the Pacific Palisades area due to the fires. While she was volunteering, she revealed that a friend from her local church had died during the wildfires.
“I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender so I don’t feel like we should talk about her yet,” the visibly emotional actor told MSNBC. “I did lose a friend who did not get out in time.”
“My heart bleeds for my friends,” the 13 Going on 30 star continued. “I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can — without even [thinking] — I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.
More than $100 million has been donated to the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires as winds slow, giving fire crews a break in their efforts to control the blazes that have burned for over a week.
The nine-figure donation total is just through GoFundMe campaigns to help families, communities, and businesses, according to NBC Los Angeles. The figure is nearly half of the $235 million raised for all disasters across GoFundMe in 2024.
More than 40,000 acres have burned in Southern California since the start of the wildfires on January 7. The biggest, the Palisades Fire, has destroyed nearly 24,000 acres and is 21 percent contained. The Eaton fire has taken out 14,000 acres and is 45 percent contained. At least 25 people have died in the fires.
