Hugh Jackman and Julia Roberts are two of several A-list celebrities who decided to give up their social media accounts — well, for one day anyway.
Jackman and Roberts will be stepping away from their Instagram and Facebook accounts and handing over the keys to medical staff and experts in an effort to keep people informed in the fight against COVID-19.
It will also give their millions of fans an insight into the day to day work that medical staffs are performing during these difficult times.
Jackman and Roberts hope to promote unity in fighting COVID-19
The two Hollywood heavyweights will be taking part in the #PassTheMic initiative, which has been organized by the ONE Campaign and aims to promote worldwide unity in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Other big-hitting celebrities taking part include Millie Bobbie Brown, Danai Gurira, Penelope Cruz, Rainn Wilson, David Oyelowo, Connie Britton, Sarah Jessica Parker, and James McAvoy.
They will also be joined by Rita Wilson, who, along with husband Tom Hanks, recently recovered from COVID-19.
In a video posted to YouTube by the One Campaign, the various celebrities can be seen saying “so long” and “goodbye” to their followers and their Instagram and Facebook accounts.
The video finishes with the words: “Hear from world experts and economists. Not celebrities.”
Global experts will take over the star’s media accounts
Among the experts featured, expect to see Dr. Anthony Faucci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, along with other folks who are not such big household names.
Other experts will include Aya Chebbi, a youth envoy for the African Union, Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, and Craig Spencer, director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Centre.
America’s own Faucci will be up first when the star of Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts, speaks to the infectious disease guru on May 21.
The rest of the celebs will take turns handing over social media control to the experts throughout the rest of May and into June.
ONE campaign president and CEO, Gayle Smith, said: “This impressive group of talent and experts from around the world will put a spotlight on the need for a global response to this pandemic.”
Celebrities like Hugh Jackman is, of course, no stranger to charitable good works, the Wolverine recently stepped up to help a bullied child in Australia who is afflicted with Dwarfism.
And Julia Roberts once went running with British adventurer Bear Grylls in an effort to deliver vaccines in Kenya.