The 2025 Grammy Awards aired Sunday and put the focus on raising money for relief efforts in Los Angeles, but in a room full of wealthy stars, they were only able to drum up $7 million.
That might be a significant amount of money for the average person, but considering the vast level of wealth in the room, this number seems quite paltry. The Grammys made several requests for donations from viewers, as well as appealing to the wealthy artists, record companies, music producers — and even the network the show aired on, CBS — for financial aid. Couldn’t the elite crowd have ponied up more than $7 million?
Grammy host Trevor Noah spent a good chunk of his time on the microphone promoting the charitable cause. A QR code flashed on the screen throughout the show, giving guests and viewers easy access to the donation page. He paused to verbally encourage donations a number of times, and the entire premise of the show was hinged on raising funds and giving thanks to the firefighters and first responders that were on-scene battling the relentless fires that devastated the very city the show was being hosted in.
Some viewers took umbrage with the fact that they were being asked to fork over their hard-earned dollars as stars in the room, adorned in haute couture dresses and dripping in diamonds, apparently sat on their hands. (RELATED: After Practically Begging For Money During LA Fires, Heidi Montag Whines About Her ‘Irreplaceable’ Designer Clothes)
grammys asking viewers to donate to the LA fires is sick af!!! like how abt we ask the billionaires and millionaires in the room to open their purses?!??!!
— ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ⚢ ☆:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ (@earth222bonni) February 3, 2025
There were many stars in the room that lost their homes in the fires, including Paris Hilton, and Dawes, a band consisting of two brothers whose homes were torched.
Inside the Crypto.com arena were music heavyweights including Dr. Dre, Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Diana Ross, Shakira, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Post Malone, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, and more. The combined wealth of the people in the room is certainly in the billions. Jay Z alone is worth $2.5 billion, his wife is worth roughly $800 million, and Dr. Dre is worth at least $400 million. Swift is worth about $1.6 billion. That’s before we take a hard look at the studios and production companies that represent vast amounts of combined wealth.
The $7 million that was generated seems quite modest considering that music’s rich and famous were all gathered in one spot. It’s hard not to think they could have done better if they really cared about the denizens of their city.
