Another Hollywood star has made headlines for a show of support after the devastating Beirut explosion that shook Lebanon and the world last week.
On Thursday, Oscar-winning cinema giant Russell Crowe donated $5,000 to the iconic Le Chef restaurant in Gemmayze, Beirut.
The restaurant sustained extensive damage from the massive August 4th blast, prompting journalist Richard Hall and filmmaker Amanda Bailly to start a fundraiser to help Le Chef‘s “frontman” Charbel Bassil with the repair costs.
When the household name “Russell Crowe” appeared on the list of donors with a “very generous donation” of $5,000 dollars, as Hall described it, the organizers were left astounded and wondering whether it was the Russell Crowe.
It soon became clear that the donation was indeed made by the Gladiator star himself. The money, as Crowe later tweeted, was sent “on behalf of Anthony Bourdain.”
Bourdain, the late celebrity chef and travel documentarian, had featured Le Chef in one of his famous documentaries, calling it “a legendary spot, famed for its simple, straightforward, home-style classics.”
“I thought that he would have probably done so if he was still around,” Crowe said in his response to Hall’s tweet about the donation.
“Wishing you and LeChef the best and hope things can be put back together soon,” he added.
Thanks partly to Russell Crowe’s handsome donation on behalf of Anthony Bourdain, and the other 200+ donors, the GoFundMe campaign to rebuild the beloved restaurant surpassed its $15,000 target, less than 24 hours after its launch.
Nonetheless, any extra money being received by the organizers will be used to support the staff of Le Chef during these difficult times, Hall noted.
Crowe’s donation comes 3 days after another Hollywood legend, Michael Douglas, posted a video in which he voiced a compassionate message of support for the Lebanese people following the deadly Beirut Port explosion.
