Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
Orlando Bloom is responding to claims that he was paid to do charity work for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
“Misinformation can be easily spread,” Bloom, 48, wrote via Instagram on Friday, February 7. “All of my work with UNICEF has been done in a voluntary capacity. I’ve never received compensation from USAID or UNICEF. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue. Have a great day 💙.”
Bloom shared this caption alongside a screenshot of a headline from Forbes which stated USAID did not pay certain celebrities to travel to Ukraine despite claims alleging otherwise.
Both Bloom and wife Katy Perry are Goodwill Ambassadors for UNICEF. In October 2022, Bloom participated in a campaign for the organization in honor of World Mental Health Day.
Bloom was one of several celebrities who have been accused of accepting millions of dollars from USAID in a video branded with a false E! News watermark, alleging the organization paid them to travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Per Forbes, the celebrities named in the video included Bloom, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ben Stiller.
Stiller, 59, addressed the video and the accompanying accusations via X on Thursday, February 6, saying, “These are lies coming from Russian media. I completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to Ukraine. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no payment of any kind. [100] percent false.”
X readers have since added context to the X post noting that the video was “fabricated to appear as if it came from ENews but there is no evidence ENews ever reported this.” The video has been shared widely across social media, racking up millions of views since it was posted on Wednesday, February 5.
Stiller, an actor and comedian, traveled to Ukraine in 2022 for World Refugee Day as a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR. “He’s there to stand in solidarity with people displaced by war and conflict all around the world,” the humanitarian organization wrote via Instagram at the time. Stiller visited the country shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The false footage began circulating last week, around the time President Donald Trump attempted to place 2,200 USAID employees on paid leave, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge. Trump has stated his intention to dismantle USAID, an overseas aid agency, and place all 10,000 of its employees, save for 611 of them, on leave, per BBC.
USAID was founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, USAID is “the lead international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government” which “provides assistance to strategically important countries and countries in conflict” and works to “alleviate poverty, disease, and humanitarian need.” USAID also “assists U.S. commercial interests by supporting developing countries’ economic growth and building countries’ capacity to participate in world trade.”
