Comedian Ken Jeong has donated $50,000 (£36,500) to the families of victims of last week’s shootings in Atlanta.
Eight people died during attacks at three massage parlours in the Georgia city on Tuesday (16 March), with a 21-year-old man being arrested.
Six of the victims were Asian women, in what has been described as the latest in a rise in anti-Asian attacks in the US.
On Tuesday (23 March), People reported that Jeong, who is a judge on The Masked Singer, had made five donations of $10,000 (£7,290) each to five different GoFundMe pages set up by the victims’ families.
The Hangover star donated to the families of Suncha Kim, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Yong Yue, and Xiaojie Tan.
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Appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday (22 March), Jeong discussed the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans, praising the show’s writer Karen Chee for her “eloquent” piece responding to the attacks.
“It was very moving,” Jeong said. “It’s just a sign that with the Asian American community, enough is enough. We’re just fed up.
“This is precisely due to weaponising terms like “China virus” and “kung” flu. And also the fact that, in this particular crime, there’s debate whether this crime is racially motivated.”
He continued: “Asian-American women are two times as likely to be assaulted in America. This was clearly, clearly racially motivated. This was clearly a hate crime.”
