FAMOUS & FABULOUS
They may be celebs but they’re also real-life heroes who took time out to help others in need in 2018
TRAVIS SCOTT
The rapper celebrated the release of his 2018 album, Astroworld, by announcing he’d give his more than four million Twitter followers a share of $100 000 (R1,4 million) in cash if they tweeted their favourite lyrics from his record.
“I know it’s hard for the kids. So I decided to unload my bank account on you guys,” Travis (aka Jacques Berman Webster II) tweeted.
Five hours later the 26-year-old had dished out $25 000 (R350 000), with $800 (R11 200) of it going to one fan to help pay for his mom’s funeral. Gets us right in the feels.
CIARA
The singer’s Level Up viral dance challenge was won by KENNY CLUTCH (34). Ciara’s fans voted the choreographer the winner for his dance to entertain his one-yearold son, KRISTIAN, who was in hospital being treated for leukaemia.
Ciara (33) later surprised the family with a visit and through her Why Not You Foundation donated $5 000 (R70 000) to the family’s fund for travel and expenses related to Kristian’s care. The little boy’s cancer is now in remission.
GUY FIERI
The celebrity chef doesn’t only use his culinary skills to entertain on the small screen – he also uses them for good.
Guy (50) was on hand to help his fellow Californians affected by the devastating wildfires that swept through the state earlier this year.
The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host, along with his son, Hunter (21), and a group of friends, helped feed some of the 10 000 people who fled their homes.
HARRISON FORD
The veteran actor is a licensed pilot and has helped stranded hikers on several occasions by swooping in aboard his personal helicopter.
In 2015 the Blade Runner 2049 star located and rescued boy scout Cody Clawson (13) after he became separated from his troop in the US’ Yellowstone National Park, and late last year Harrison saved two hikers suffering from altitude sickness at the top of Table Mountain in Wyoming.
And he’s also a Good Samaritan on the ground. When a woman lost control of her car and drove off the side of the road on California’s State Route 126, Harrison (76) pulled over, helped her out and waited with her until the paramedics arrived.
Love ya, Indy!
LUDACRIS
Earlier this year the rapper and actor stepped up at a supermarket in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to pay for Therra Gwyn-Jaramillo’s $375 (R5 250) groceries when she realised she didn’t have enough money.
“He turned to me and said, ‘I got this.’ And I looked at him and he said, ‘All of this, don’t put anything back’,” Therra told CBS News. Once Ludacris (41), whose real name is Chris Bridges, left, a cashier told Therra who he was.
A search later revealed more than 100 instances of The Fate of the Furious star hanging out in grocery stores and paying for the contents of lucky shoppers’ trolleys. Ludacris’ secret hobby was uncovered by The New York Times while trying to verify Therra’s story.
SARAH SILVERMAN
Instead of firing back with witty jabs at an internet troll, the two-time Emmywinning comedian showed some heart.
While scrolling through Jeremy Jamrozy’s Twitter timeline looking for something to fuel a mean-spirited reply, Sarah (48) learnt he suffers from chronic back pain and was sexually abused as a child. “I read your timeline & I see what you’re doing & your rage is thinly veiled pain. I know this feeling,” she tweeted.
The Battle of the Sexes star reached out to her 12,5 million Twitter followers to help find a pain-management specialist in Jeremy’s hometown of San Antonio, Texas, USA, and paid the bill for him.
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
Earlier this year the actor jumped out of his Uber to help a delivery person being assaulted by four men in London. The attackers reportedly punched the man and hit him over the head with a bottle, after which Benedict (42) entered the fray, yelling, “Leave him alone!”
The Uber driver also helped pull the assailants off the man, and they eventually fled. A spokesperson for the man’s employer, Deliveroo, later said, “We’d like to thank Benedict Cumberbatch for his heroic actions. On behalf of everyone at Deliveroo: thank you so much.”
The modest Avengers: Infinity War star insisted he was no hero. “I did it out of . . . well, I had to, you know,” he said.
OFFSET
The rapper didn’t forget to reward the guardian angel who helped him after he got into a near-fatal car accident earlier this year.
Offset (27) – born Kiari Kendrell Cephus – was seriously injured when his Dodge Challenger was involved in a crash in Atlanta, Georgia, US, in May. Following the accident, a passer-by who was walking to work helped Offset get out of the wreckage.
The Bad and Boujee hitmaker has since rewarded the man – identified only as Jamar – with a new car. “He was the only one [to] see it, help me get out the car, help me walk, help me get to where I needed to get to,” Offset later revealed in a video on social media. “So, I bought my boy a car ’cos, you know, he was walking to work when he saved my life. God is good.”
TOM HARDY
The perpetual real-life superhero and sometime actor once again came to the aid of a member of the public in London this year. Last year the Venom star made a citizen’s arrest after chasing and detaining a motorbike thief.
More recently he paused an interview when he saw a woman bleeding on the street. Tom (41) was giving a journalist a tour of south-west London where he grew up when they saw the woman, who’d tripped while walking her dog.
“I know her,” the Oscar nominee said once he realised she was the mother of one of his childhood friends. After seeing her into an ambulance, the Dunkirk actor promptly called the woman’s next of kin to notify them of her medical emergency.