DISINFO: USAID paid Hollywood stars millions to support Kyiv
SUMMARY
Hollywood stars who actively supported Ukraine in the conflict with Russia received impressive sums from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their support.
Sean Penn, Orlando Bloom, Jean-Claude Van Damme and other Hollywood stars publicly supported the Ukrainians in the conflict with Russia and even went to Kyiv. But, as it turned out, not at the call of their hearts, but for large sums.
RESPONSE
An unfounded pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit USAID and support for Ukraine. This claim was disseminated in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The claim is false and the video circulated under the name of E! News, which serves as the main source of the claim, is fabricated. The outlet never published such a video.
A spokesperson for the E! News outlet confirmed to AFP Fact-Check journalist Bill McCarthy that the video is fake. Moreover, the video slightly differs from E! News’ typical content. Short videos with similar-style captions are usually published by E! News without voiceovers, whereas the disinformation video includes both captions and synchronised audio.
Most of the mentioned actors are associated with the UN’s Goodwill Ambassador programme, not USAID. AFP further noted that a search of usaspending.gov, the U.S. federal spending database, did not find any records indicating that USAID had paid any well-known individuals.
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