By Molly Claire Goddard
12:49pm PDT, Jul 30, 2025
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FireAid is on a mission to prove
Donald Trump and Republicans wrong. After the president and his conservative base called the organization a "scam" and questioned how they distributed $100 million in wildfire relief, FireAid
hired the law firm Latham and Watkins to investigate how the money was distributed.
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In the wake of the devastating infernos that burned many parts of Southern California earlier this year, FireAid held a lucrative concert featuring Stevie Nicks, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and more top artists. The show raised a reported $100 million for wildfire relief. According to reports, the famous Los Angeles philanthropic entity the Annenberg Foundation helped FireAid determine where the money should go to impact the most people in need. Now, the group has brought on Latham and Watkins to prove there was no mismanagement with the funds.
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Many right-wingers have questioned where the cash went. California Representative
Kevin Kiley asked for a Department of Justice investigation from Attorney General
Pam Bondi and alleged that "the money has been misallocated." Donald Trump took to his
Truth Social account to rant about the controversial matter and to slam California Governor
Gavin Newsom. "'FIREAID' IS A TOTAL DISASTER. LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER DEMOCRAT INSPIRED SCAM. 100 MILLION DOLLARS IS MISSING. WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE LOS ANGELES FIRE VICTIMS, FIRES THAT, WITH PROPER MANAGEMENT, WOULD NEVER HAVE EVEN HAPPENED," he wrote. "GOVERNOR NEWSCUM REFUSED TO RELEASE BILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT WOULD HAVE MADE! I HAVE SINCE OVERRULED HIM AND IT IS NOW RELEASED. All FEDERAL HOUSING PERMITS HAVE ALSO BEEN APPROVED, THE CITY IS YEARS LATE. GET THE FIRE VICTIMS THEIR APPROVALS TO REBUILD AND DO IT NOW!"
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Following the accusations, Lisa Cleri Reale, a member of FireAid's grant advisory committee, clarified that the money went directly to those who needed the most help. "We want people to understand that there's been a thoughtful process behind this and our top priority was trying to do what people needed and do what's best for fire survivors," she explained in a statement. Per reports, the organization gave out two installments of grants, totaling $75 million. In phase one, $50 million was distributed to more than 120 nonprofit organizations that reached more than 150,000 residents affected by the disaster. In phase two, the group highlighted specific recovery efforts, giving $17 million to wildfire recovery at large, $6 million to continued relief for fire survivors with food and emergency supplies, $500,000 to "symbols of hope" for the community and $1 million for a project with the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
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Reality star
Spencer Pratt — who lost his home in the fires — has been outspoken about his skepticism regarding where the money collected by FireAid went. The former star of
The Hills accused Gavin Newsom, his wife
Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the California Volunteers organization of getting money from phase two of the funds from FireAid. The organization shut down his claims. "California Volunteers, Office of the Governor, is not a recipient of FireAid. The nonprofit, California Volunteers Fund, has been publicly identified as a potential grantee. While we're independent of them, they financially support volunteer efforts in CA, including our programs," they wrote in a message shared on X.
