RICKY GERVAIS DONATES OVER $2 MILLION TO ANIMAL CHARITIES
We always love to see celebrities using their fame and fortunes to help animals in need. One of the biggest supporter of animal causes is comedian Ricky Gervais, who over his career has been a vocal proponent of animal rights and has made huge donations to charities. Recently, Gervais made an amazingly generous donation, giving over $2 million to various animal charities.
Gervais, known for creating and starring in shows like The Office, Extras and After Life, is reportedly donating $2.4 million in proceeds from his latest stand-up tour to a selection of 11 animal charities, according to The Standard. The charities include All Dogs Matter, Animal SOS Sri Lanka, Catastrophes Cat Rescue, Chaldon Animal Sanctuary, Dogs On The Streets, Helping Rhinos, Millions of Friends, Mira Dogs, Paws2Rescue, PDSA and Wild Futures. “I hope the dogs, cats, rhinos and monkeys invest this money wisely, because when my career goes tits up I’ll need it back,” the comedian joked.
The proceeds come from Gervais’ recent Armageddon tour, which had a sold-out, 85-date worldwide run over the past year. Gervais has a policy of selling high-priced, premium tickets to all of his shows: this helps fight ticket price gouging, and Gervais donates the extra proceeds to charities. “This way people willing to pay higher prices will at least know it’s going to charity instead of some scummy tout,” he explained in 2017. The Armageddon tour was a particular success for Gervais, setting the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing single stand-up show of all time after his May 6 show at the Hollywood Bowl, which raked in $1,790,206.
Ricky Gervais has long been a vocal advocate for animal rights. Last year he announced that he was an ethical vegan, and he has used his platform to speak out against practices like trophy hunting and bear bile farming. In 2020, he lent his support to the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting. “Why are we even having to make the case for banning trophy hunting in the year 2020?” he told The Sun. “It’s hard to think of anything more sickening or senseless than killing an animal for entertainment, then hacking it up so you can display its body parts and brag about it… Trophy hunting is humanity at its very worst.”
In 2014, Gervais supported Animals Asia by adopting a moon bear who had been farmed for his bile. Gervais named the bear “Derek,” after the title character from his Netflix series. In recognition of his donations and advocacy, Gervais has received the Lord Houghton Award for Service to Animal Welfare from Animal Defenders International and the Cecil Award from Humane Society International. Thank you to Ricky Gervais for donating over $2 million and always being such a big supporter of animals in need.
