AppleInsider Staff
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday announced the company will donate $10 million to the "One World: Together at Home" benefit, a COVID-19 fundraiser organized by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization in collaboration with Lady Gaga.
The gift was revealed in a pre-recorded segment aired on YouTube by "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
In the video, part of "The Tonight Show's" ongoing at-home interview series," Gaga talked to Fallon about the initiative that will fund the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The pop star has gathered a host of A-list celebrities and musical acts to feature in the special live broadcast scheduled to air globally on April 18. Fallon, along with late night talk show personalities Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, will host the event.
During the interview, Gaga, who is personally fundraising for the event, proposed she and Fallon call Cook for a donation.
"I think we should call Tim Cook," Gaga said. "I don't know if he knows he's going to be on TV just yet, but we're going to FaceTime him and find out."
When asked by Gaga to confirm a previously discussed donation figure, Cook said, "You can confirm me, we are so proud to be a part of this." Fallon later revealed the number to be $10 million. The project has so far raised $35 million, much of the money coming from tech companies like Apple.
As announced earlier today, "One World: Together at Home" will feature appearances by Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Elton John, FINNEAS, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, and Stevie Wonder.
Apple is slated to stream the event live on April 18 at 5 p.m. Pacific.
The Cupertino tech giant is pouring money and resources into fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and in March said worldwide commitments to relief causes surpassed $15 million. Two weeks later, the company doubled donations earmarked for China to more than $7 million.
More recently, Cook over the weekend said Apple has sourced some 20 million N95 face masks from its supply chain for use by front line medical workers. The company, with the help of partner suppliers, is also manufacturing in-house designed plastic face shields at a rate of more than 1 million a week.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
8 Comments
Good job Apple, and good job to all the companies and individuals stepping up to help where governments have spectacularly dropped the ball.
Waiting for the “characters” on the other thread to tie themselves in mental knots explaining why this is bad “virtue signaling!”
Zoos everywhere need help. I hope that these animals will find their way into a future fundraiser of some sort. It is all over the news. Here is an example, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/world/europe/germany-zoo-coronavirus.html