FLINT, Mich. — Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, announced on his Twitter on Sunday that he plans to donate $10,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint in wake of the ongoing water crisis.
Fallon called on others to do the same, tweeting #WaterForFlint.
Last week, rock band Pearl Jam, with the help of “a close group of friends and partners,” pledged $300,000 to support relief efforts in Flint. Rapper Big Sean also launched a CrowdRise campaign, which has already raised more than $20,000, to help the people of Flint.
Meanwhile, Oscar-nominated actor and co-founder of Water.org Matt Damontold The Daily Beast he believes Gov. Rick Snyder should resign amid the crisis, echoing similar sentiments made by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
“At the very least he should resign! At the very least,” Damon told The Daily Beast. “Listen, everybody’s entitled to a fair trial in the United States of America, but that man should get one. And soon. That’s just my personal opinion.”
Sunday morning, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush threw his support behind Gov. Snyder while making his rounds on the Sunday political talk shows.
“I admire Rick Snyder for stepping up now,” Bush said on CNN’s State of the Union. “He’s going through the challenge and fired people and accepted responsibility to fix this. This is going to be a long challenge.”
Bush called the situation a tragedy, but said changes need to be made to the existing “20th century regulatory system in a 21st century world” to ensure more accountability at the local, state and federal levels.
“Someone needs to change how we go about Washington’s role in this, where there’s more accountability and more transparency when reports are done to make sure they’re thoroughly vetted,” he told CNN.
Earlier in January, pop singer Chercalled Gov. Snyder a murder on Twitter for his role in the crisis, even suggesting he be executed by using the hashtag #firingsquadworksforme. The singer recently shipped a semi truck full of bottled water to the city.
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Flint native and filmmaker Michael Moore have also chimed in on the crisis. Jackson said the residents coping with a drinking water crisis “have been betrayed.”
