Lady Gaga's dad deactivates GoFundMe page launched to pay staff of his shuttered restaurant after drawing flak
Lady Gaga's father, Joe Germanotta, was forced to remove a GoFundMe page he created to invite donations to cover the wages of his restaurant staff after it shut its doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 64-year-old restaurateur, who is the owner of several New York eateries, was hard hit amid the ongoing outbreak, which led him to shutter the Upper West Side business at Joanne Trattoria, in an effort to encourage self-isolation and curb the spread of COVID-19. He set up the fundraising page to collect $50,000 from the public to cover the salaries of his employees who were ordered to stay home.
“I’m doing the best I can but we had to close Joanne for the month. Our staff needs some help financial (sic). Any help for our employees will be appreciated,” Germanotta wrote in a since-deleted tweet, according to Newsweek.
In the crowd-funding page, which is currently deactivated, Germanotta urged his supporters to help with the payroll of his staff members during this "uncertain time." The GoFundMe page managed to raise just $541 before it was removed.
"As our doors remain closed longer than anticipated, our staff is finding it increasingly difficult to finance the daily necessities to keep them healthy, like groceries and insurance costs — to say nothing of rent, utilities, and other recurring bills. Our amazing staff is made up of primarily hourly workers who depend on our payroll, and who overwhelmingly live paycheck to paycheck. Our goal of $50,000 would cover our typical payroll for approximately 2 weeks, and 100% of the profits would go to our hourly workers to provide those necessary items like food, childcare, and medical expenses," the page read.
Needless to say, Germanotta faced a lot of backlash from people who came across the fundraising page. Most of them criticized him for not turning to his Oscar-winning daughter for help before asking the cash-deprived public for financial aid.
“Lady Gaga is worth hundred of millions of dollars AND is part owner in her family’s restaurant. Yet her also wealthy father has just taken to Twitter to ask the public to help financially the workers they have stopped paying. What the f–k????” wrote Perez Hilton.
Reporter Laura Lyne said: "You’re asking people that are more than likely worse off than you to pay for your staff. Come on, you can afford to pay them.”
Another user wrote: "To lady GaGa, really a go fund me page to pay workers for your Dad restaurant in NY, give me a Fringing Break. How many millions are you worth, you could pay his employees out our your own damn pockets."
Lady Gaga is one of the world's highest-paid musicians, with an estimated net worth of $275 million. According to Forbes, the singer earned $39.5 million in 2019.