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The generosity of humans makes my heart swell. It felt odd reporting on the Golden Globe Awards yesterday when so much of our editors’ country – Australia – was burning. Still burning. No matter what time zone our staff are writing from – Sydney, New York, Milan, London – Australia is on fire 24/7.
But wonderfully, two worlds – Hollywood films and the land of sweeping plains– collided last night as celebrities used their acceptance speeches to draw global attention to the immediate and deathly crisis.
Lots of incredible people have donated to the NSW Rural Fire Service, The Red Cross, The Salvation Army and WIRES – if you haven’t yet, you can do so here – and for every single person, we say a huge thank you. While the Australian government seems to be more inactive than ever as literally the entire continent burns, it’s been heart-warming to see and feel that little old Australia has not been forgotten by the big-wigs and the movie stars we seem so removed from, even if only geographically. (PINK donated $500,000, as did Nicole Kidman and that wonderful comedian Celeste Barber has rallied thousands of people globally to raise over $36 million for the RFS.)
Last night, Joaquin Phoenix used his acceptance speech to draw attention to Australia, as did Patricia Arquette. But Fleabag’s star and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge went one step further and announced to reporters backstage that she is auctioning off her Ralph & Russo tweed suit and donating the money to the fire relief in Australia.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge announces backstage that she will auction off her Ralph Russo suit from tonight’s #GoldenGlobes and donate the money to fire relief in Australia pic.twitter.com/OzQzc9GOaU
— Kirsten Chuba (@KirstenChuba) January 6, 2020
On a lighter note, Waller-Bridge who accepted the Golden Globe for Best Television Series in the Musical or Comedy category, thanked former US President Barack Obama. And if you’ve seen Fleabag, you’ll understand why this is completely hilarious – it’s explained here. “Personally, I’d like to also thank Obama for putting us on his list,” she said. “As some of you may know, he’s always been on mine.”
Speaking about her character’s love interest on the series, the hot priest, Waller-Bridge thanked the man who played him Andrew Scott. “There was a lot of talk about the chemistry of us in the show, but really he could have chemistry with a pebble so I love being Andrew’s pebble and thank you for bringing so much fire to this season.”
At the time of publish, 15 million hectares of land have been burnt in Australia – across every state. 1400 homes have been destroyed and 500 million animals have been killed by the fires. And we’re not out of the woods yet. Here are all the ways you can help.
