On August 4, the port city of Beirut in Lebanon suffered a pair of devasting explosions, the latter of which has been labeled as one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. In the end, at least 220 were killed, 7,000 injured, 300,000 were left homeless, and a total of $10-15 billion worth of property was damaged. As the country looks to rebuild and heal, a process that has become much more difficult thanks to the resignation of many government leaders, including the prime minister, The Weeknd offers his contribution to victims in the relief process.
In an announcement made by The Weeknd’s manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, whose wife Rima Fakih has been working with relief efforts for Lebanon, he revealed that The Weeknd made a donation of $300,000 to Global Aid for Lebanon to aid with relief efforts. “I am so honored and humbled to work with artist’s who have such deep care for the world and right now for our brothers & sisters of Lebanon who are in pain and need our collective help,” Slaiby wrote in his statement. “I want to thank my brother @theweeknd for his generous and class act of donating $300,000 to the Global Aid for Lebanon campaign.”
The Weeknd’s donation is just his latest in recent contributions for a better cause. At the end of June, the singer donated $1 million to pandemic relief with half a million going to Scarborough Health Network (SHN) and the other half a million going to MusiCares.
Check out Slaiby’s Instagram post about The Weeknd’s donation above.