The Weeknd donates $300,000 to victims of the Beirut explosion

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Victoria’s SecretAs Beirut continues to reel from an explosion that devastated the city last week, The Weeknd is stepping up to help with ongoing relief efforts. The “Bright Lights” singer h…

By ABC Audio on August 13, 2020

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Victoria’s SecretAs Beirut continues to reel from an explosion that devastated the city last week, The Weeknd is stepping up to help with ongoing relief efforts.

The “Bright Lights” singer has donated $300,000 to Global Aid for Lebanon campaign, a charity set up to assist victims of the blast that killed over 200 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The Weeknd’s manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby announced the charitable deed on Wednesday, writing on Instagram, “I am so honored and humbled to work with artist’s who have such deep care for the world and right now for our brothers & sisters of Lebanon who are in pain and need our collective help.”

“I want to thank my brother @theweeknd for his generous and class act of donating $300,000 to the Global Aid for Lebanon campaign,” continued Slaiby before shouting out others who have joined the cause. “Also, I want to give a special thank you to Michael Rapino @michaelrapino and my Live Nation family for $50,000 donation. Give what you can and let’s repost so the world can come together to help Lebanon from this this devastating tragedy.”

This isn’t the first cause the “Starboy” singer has financially supported this year, previously he directed $500,000 to Black Lives Matter and forwarded a $1 million toward the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund.

As previously reported, a seismic blast wracked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on August 4.  The cause of the explosion was found to be 2,275 tonnes of confiscated ammonium nitrate that was improperly stored at a port for six years.  

The explosion ignited massive protests across the country, which ultimately led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab and other high profile Lebanese officials due to ongoing claims of widespread corruption.  

By Megan Stone
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