Singers Drake and The Weeknd have both donated $100,000 to the National Bail Out Collective, which aims to help out black women and caregivers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Their donations were elicited by Mustapha the Poet, a friend of the pair from their Toronto hometown; he called on his two famous buddies to make a donation to the collective.
Mustapha put up proof of his own $400 donation by showing off his receipt on his Instagram story and tagged in Drake and The Weeknd suggesting they add three zeros onto his contribution.
He wrote: “My Toronto Kings @champagnepapi @theweeknd. Swipe up & match my donation but add 3 zeros! Let’s help reunite black families.”
Drake’s bank called fraud on his card
Drake got back to his pal to say he’d tried to donate, but his bank had flagged up the transaction as potentially fraudulent. The singer wrote: “They just called fraud on my card. Lol.” But then added: “Trying to contact them now.”
He clearly managed to get through to his bank, who were able to check his identity because he subsequently wrote, “I donated 100K. They were like Nah.” He added, “waiting on receipt.” Mustapha responded to hos friend: “MY DAWG.”
Mustapha later tweeted out his own receipt along with the text conversation he had with Drake when the superstar confirmed his donation.
????? @NationalBailOut pic.twitter.com/ZhqlufOtpu
— Mustafa (@MustafaThePoet) June 1, 2020
The Weeknd also gave up $100,000 and supplied a receipt
Mustapha later tweeted out a receipt from The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) to show that he, too, had donated $100,000. He wrote: “Heavy receipts!! my brother.”
Heavy receipts!! my brother ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/QNZ98AAHE8
— Mustafa (@MustafaThePoet) June 2, 2020
Drake and The Weeknd aren’t the only stars to be generous with their income during these trying times we’ve had in recent days and months; over the weekend Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds announced they were donating $200,000 to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The Hollywood couple said their generosity was down to their horror at George Floyd’s recent death at the hands of Minneapolis cops. In a lengthy statement, they admitted to making past mistakes when it came to racial sensitivity but that they were determined to do better.
Taylor Swift also recently donated $3000 to fans who were struggling with financial costs during the current coronavirus pandemic.
Drake was in the news earlier this year after his two-year-old son made it on to Instagram. The Canadian singer and his partner Sophie Braussaux had previously kept their son out of the limelight, but in March, they changed that by posting a series of adorable family pics.