Musicians Drake and The Weeknd both donated large amounts of money to organizations fighting for racial equality following the death of George Floyd.
The donations by the musicians come after songwriter Mustafa Ahmed called on the rappers to match his donation, according to a report published Tuesday by Page Six.
???????????????????? @NationalBailOut pic.twitter.com/ZhqlufOtpu
— Mustafa (@MustafaThePoet) June 1, 2020
Ahmed donated $400 to National Bail Out but requested Drake and The Weeknd “add 3 zeroes” to their donations, the outlet reported.
Drake shared Ahmed’s post to his Instagram story and said, “say less brother.” His next post was a receipt showing he had donated $100,000 to National Bail Out, Page Six reported.
The Weeknd went one step further and donated to multiple organizations. (RELATED: Producer Dick Wolf Fires Writer Over Post Saying He Will ‘Light’ Up Looters)
“keep supporting our brothers and sisters out there risking everything to push for actual change for our black lives,” the musician captioned a series of screenshots of his donations. “Urging everyone with big pockets to give and give big and if you have less please give what you can even if it’s a small amount.”
The Weeknd donated a total of $200,000 to Black Lives Matter Global Network. He also donated $100,000 to National Bail Out and another $200,000 to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative.
The donations come after the death of Floyd sparked protests and riots over the last week in American cities. As previously reported, Floyd died while in custody of the Minnesota Police Department. Video footage filmed by bystanders shows now-former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for roughly nine minutes.
Chauvin has since been fired and charged with murder in the 3rd degree and manslaughter.