Dwayne Johnson addresses Maui Fund backlash: ‘I could have been better’

‘When you are living paycheck to paycheck, the last thing you want to hear is someone asking you for money’

Dwayne Johnson decided to set the record straight after he experienced backlash for asking his followers to donate to the Maui recovery fund he started with Oprah Winfrey.

The Hobbs & Shaw actor originally partnered with Winfrey to launch the People’s Fund for Maui and together they pledged a combined $10m to kick things off. However, when they released a public plea on 31 August asking for people to donate, the pair received swift backlash.

Johnson got candid with his followers in an Instagram video he shared on Sunday 8 October, where he addressed the backlash and promised to “be better”. “When we first launched the fund, there was some backlash that came with launching the fund, and I want to address that backlash,” he explained. “I get it, and I completely understand, and I could have been better. And next time, I will be better.”

He also added that he understood that many Americans are currently “living paycheck to paycheck,” and “money ain’t falling out of the sky, and it’s not growing on trees”.

The former Hawaii resident continued: “I get it. I know what it’s like. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. When you are living paycheck to paycheck, the last thing you want to hear is someone asking you for money, especially when the person asking you for money already has a lot of money.”

Because it was his first time launching a fund, Johnson told his followers that he was taking the backlash as a learning experience. “I’ve never launched a fund before, but I’m a quick study,” he noted. He proceeded to thank those who offered him “constructive criticism,” writing: “You always tell me the truth — good or bad — I’ll always appreciate and protect that straight talk between us — You have my word to always listen, learn, grow and do better.”

Besides addressing the backlash and criticism, elsewhere in the video, Johnson had some “great news” to share with his followers in regard to the fund.

“I have some great news, some awesome news actually, that I’m very grateful to share with you guys,” he started. “The thousands and thousands of survivors, the families, have now, over the past couple of weeks, started to receive their first round of funds. They’re receiving their money, and I gotta tell you, it’s been the most gratifying and moving thing.”

When he and Winfrey launched the fund, they specified that only adults who lost their primary homes in Lahaina and Kula to the wildfires would be eligible for $1,200 a month through the fund. The goal was to help these homeowners get back on their feet amid the disastrous tragedy.

Winfrey, a part-time Maui resident, had been inspired by Dolly Parton’s philanthropic efforts to start a fund of her own for those affected by the disaster. She explained: “I read this article that Dolly Parton had given money in her community, and I said: ‘I think this is the answer.’”

In the video, the duo explained that they wanted to create a fund with “real immediacy” that would ensure that the money would go directly to the people in need. “People being able to have their own agency, being able to make decisions for themselves about what they need and what their family needs — that’s our goal, is to get that to the people now,” the talk show icon added.