In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the catastrophic flooding in Texas, Ruby Rose opened her wallet and donated $10,000 … and she was heavily criticized for it by many people on social media.
The "Orange Is The New Black" star pledged the hefty sum to an LGBT center, which set up a fund to aid those displaced by the storm. After doing so, many of her followers slammed her. On Aug. 29, Ruby shared a post by Jack Antoff who promised to match any donations to the LGBT center in Montrose, Houston. Ruby tweeted, "I'm going to match Jack and eat a banana while I donate 10 k to the LGBT center in Houston also."
The banana bit was in response to the viral images of him eating a banana at the MTV VMAs.
Several people were unmoved by her donation.
"This is sad… helping only one group. When the entire city needs help," one person said. Another went further, writing, "So you are only willing to help out gay people suffering from the floods in Houston?!?! You are a disgusting human being."
Others took exception to her wording, perhaps not understanding the banana reference.
"Hopefully your donations would be going to help everyone down there in need and not just the LGBT community there. People are people right?," another said.
There were others who backed Ruby and tried to put the haters in their place.
"I have donated to a local homeless charity… does that mean I am discriminating against homeowners? Thank you again, Ruby," one person said. Another said, she would "like to see these keyboard warriors donate anything other than hate."
Ruby actually reposted some of the negative comments, writing, "I don't agree with the wording or personal attacks." She then attempted to explain what the LGBT center does in a fairly lengthy statement.
"The LGBT center does not just help LGBT members in a crisis like, it does not discriminate people in need based on gender, sexuality, race or religion," she said. "It is one of the most inclusive organizations I can think of. It is not as though they check how gay you are on entry."
She said she also donated to an animal organization, as well, but did it without fanfare.
"This was a unique situation as the benefit in creating awareness to the center outweighed the usual criticism of 'is that all you donated' or 'why gay people' or 'attention seeker' etc," she said. "It's far more rewarding to donate anonymously by a long mile."