Billionaire David Geffen Sparks Outrage With Instagram Superyacht Photos
With just one Instagram post, billionaire David Geffen illustrated how differently the rich and the poor are dealing with the growing coronavirus pandemic, inciting social media outrage in the process.
According to Bloomberg, the outrage was sparked by Geffen’s post of him spending his isolation time on his superyacht, Rising Sun. The yacht is considered one of the biggest private vessels in the world, thanks to its length of 454 feet. The 77-year-old revealed in the caption that he was isolated in the Grenadines, and that he was wishing everyone was safe.
The general public did not take kindly to Geffen’s well-wishes, with “The View” co-host Meghan McCain even calling the post “shameful and grotesque.” Thousands of critical comments soon followed, including a scathing mention in the “Ask Hadley” column of The Guardian.
Columnist Hadley Freeman sarcastically called the post “unusually empathetic” for Geffen, showing “uncharacteristic concern for the little people.” With all the online vitriol directed towards him, the billionaire was forced to delete his account.
Before this online brouhaha, the Rising Sun was sailing in the Caribbean since November of last year. It has been going back and forth between the Grenadines, St. Vincent, and Grenada.
The Rising Sun certainly isn’t the worst place to isolate oneself. Thanks to its huge size, the vessel also houses a wine cellar, a cinema, and a gym.
While Geffen has become the subject of public ire, not every celebrity social distancing and self-isolating has been excoriated by the general public.
For instance, Angelina Jolie has been spending time with her kids Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Aside from helping them out with their schoolwork, Jolie has also made a million-dollar donation to the nonprofit organization No Kid Hungry. The aim of the group is to end global childhood hunger. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing schools to close down, Jolie expressed the hope that her donation will help feed the approximately 22 million children who depend on their schools for the food they eat every day.
Meanwhile, actor-writer-producer John Krasinski started the Youtube series “Some Good News.” The premiere episode had Krasinski deliver heartwarming news like that of a couple getting engaged and a grandfather seeing his grandson for the first time.
The episode even featured the surprise appearance of Krasinski’s “The Office” co-star, Steve Carell. The pair went on a trip down memory lane and reminisced about their time on the hit sitcom, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Krasinski even expressed his hope for a cast reunion sometime soon.