Did Selena Gomez donate $5M to the Southern California Wildfire Relief Fund? Direct Relief says CEO Thomas Tighe has made no such statement

Amidst the multiple wildfires that have started around Los Angeles, the news of Selena Gomez donating $5 million to the Southern California Wildlife Relief Fund has been going viral on the social media recently. One such tweet, uploaded on X on Thursday, January 9, read:

"Thomas Tighe, CEO of Direct Relief, confirms Selena Gomez donated $5 million to support the Southern California Wildfire Relief Fund."

The tweet, which has since received over 724K views, was also retweeted by the official account of Direct Relief on Friday morning. The organization clarified that no such statement was made by Thomas Tighe to "avoid any confusion."

It also guided viewers to Direct Relief's official website to learn about its accurate response to the Los Angeles fires.

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Selena Gomez was appointed the ambassador of the UNICEF in 2009

While the news of Selena Gomez donating $5 million to the Wildlife Relief Fund to aid the Los Angeles fires was confirmed to be false, the singer-actress has been involved in philanthropic activities from a young age. In 2009, when Gomez was 17, she was appointed as the ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

As the youngest UNICEF ambassador, Selena Gomez has visited Nepal, Ghana, and Chile to observe the organization's work. She interacted with children, teenagers, and their families, learning about how UNICEF supports education, nutrition, health, and protection. In Nepal, she also visited the Satbariya Rapti Secondary School, where she joined students performing traditional Tharu dances.

Gomez was also a strong advocate of UNICEF's Tap Project - a fundraiser designed to help provide clean and safe water to all the children in the world.

According to a Borgen Magazine article from January 2023, Selena Gomez has been the official spokesperson for UNICEF's Trick-or-Treat campaign for three years. In 2010, she encouraged teenagers to donate, designed a trick-or-treat t-shirt, and auctioned personal items on CharityBuzz.com.

Gomez also performed at a small LA concert, donating the revenue generated to UNICEF. With the singer's help, UNICEF raised $4 million for the event. Two years later, Selena Gomez endorsed UNICEF's #SahelNOW - a campaign that addressed the nutritional crisis in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa.

The same year, she performed her second charity concert for UNICEF in West Hollywood's House of Blues. Joined by Noah Guthrie and Big Time Rush at the concert, she managed to raise more than $200,000 at the end of the night. Gomez continues to work with UNICEF.

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Gomez launched her own charitable fund in 2020

Besides being dedicated to other charitable causes, Selena Gomez has also created her own charity fund. The Rare Impact Fund was created by the Souvenir singer in 2020, as she launched her cosmetics line, Rare Beauty.

One percent of all sales made at Rare Beauty is donated to the impact fund, which is dedicated to help people gain access to mental health resources. The 32-year-old, who has struggled with mental health issues in the past, recognized deeply with the cause.

In her founder's note on the impact fund's official website, Gomez writes that she started the fund as:

"a commitment to expand access to mental health services and education for young people everywhere. Because no one—regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or background—should struggle alone."

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Selena Gomez was recently engaged to his partner, Benny Blanco, who popped the question to her on December 11, 2024.