PORTLAND, Oregon — Ever since Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman first met on the set of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” that aired in 2009, the two actors have been involved in a playful feud with one another. While this feud usually consists of entertaining fans by bickering and teasing each other online, the pair have also used their unique differences for charity purposes several times in the past. In December 2020, specifically, the actors agreed to a product selling competition to benefit the SickKids Foundation and the Laughing Man Foundation. Reynolds’ and Jackman’s feud has often been put aside for charitable causes.
Charitable Endeavors
in June 2020, Reynolds’ and Jackman’s feud was once again put aside for a common cause. Together, they participated in Global Citizens Global Goal: Unite for Our Future campaign, a virtual event consisting of a concert and a summit that featured multiple famous people. The event that the two actors united for raised almost $7 billion. Funds were used to help the people hit hardest by the pandemic, all around the globe.
The actors’ most recent charity event occurred in December 2020 when they continued their feud in a competition that would benefit the SickKids Foundation supported by Reynolds and the Laughing Man Foundation that was founded by Jackman himself. For their fundraiser, they partnered with warehouse retailer, Sam’s Club, and each tried to sell as many of their personal brand products as possible — Aviation Gin for Reynolds and Laughing Man Coffee for Jackman. The person that ended up selling more products was Jackman. Even though Reynolds’ loss meant that he was forced to post a video about his opponent’s victory on social media, he still declared the two nonprofit organizations the real winners since they were both going to receive the same amount of money regardless of the competition’s outcome.
Competing for Noble Causes
The mission of the SickKids Foundation is to make sure that every child gets to be healthy. While the Canada-based organization provides services for the country’s own citizens, it does not stop there. The SickKids Foundation aims to improve medical research and increase the healthcare standards for children all across the globe. Through generous donations, at the end of March 2020, the organization was able to invest almost $191 million in child health research, education and care.
On the other hand, the Laughing Man Foundation, co-founded by Jackman himself in 2011, is a coffee company that uses its profits to support fair trade coffee farming. The organization aims to improve the living conditions of farmers in Colombia, Peru and Ethiopia. In order to do this, the Laughing Man Foundation spends its earned money and received donations to increase the farming families’ access to healthcare and to contribute to the economic growth, efficiency and sustainability of the coffee farming sector.
Ultimately, everybody got to benefit from Reynolds’ and Jackman’s feud for charity. Most importantly, the donation money from their competition significantly contributed to improving global child health and supporting coffee farmers in developing countries.
– Bianca Adelman
Photo: Flickr