Creative Ways Celebs Are Trying To Help Fight Coronavirus

In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has touched both normal and celebrity lives alike, the United States declared a national emergency and cities across the nation have gone into various levels of shutdown to prevent its spread. As of this writing, more than 181,000 people have contracted the virus globally since the outbreak first emerged (via CBS News), and there have been more than 7,100 fatalities — but that figure is changing every day. 

Beyond that, leagues of workers — from travel agents to bartenders and servers — have faced indefinite work closures and cancellations as cities instill curfews and public places shutter. The entertainment industry has screeched to a near halt with the live-music sector expected to lose billions of dollars after two of the largest concert promoters, AEG and Live Nation, suspended all tours, according to The New York Times. For the first time in 34 years, SXSW was canceled, and Waffle House (or some Waffle Houses) are closed, which is, by all accounts, the mark of a true disaster.

While most of us are hunkering down indoors with some Netflix to protect the most vulnerable, celebrities have been stepping up to the plate to help those affected by the landmark outbreak.

For Bebe Rexha, coronavirus hit very close to home. The "Meant to Be" singer jumped in to personally help her Twitter followers after a 45-year-old friend passed away from the virus. "This is NOT A JOKE ... STAY INSIDE YOUR F— HOUSE AND DO YOUR CIVIC DUTY. PLEASE," she tweeted. Unfortunately, that's not exactly a reality for many people who are living paycheck to paycheck, especially now that mass closures are threatening many families' livelihoods. 

"We need to go out and get supplies ourselves. They just don't come to our doorstep. We don't make millions. Who's going to pay my bills? No one," one Twitter user replied. That's when Bebe stepped in and started sending money to struggling fans via Cash App. Rexha might be a mess, but she's trying her best to clean this one up (with a healthy dose of Lysol, we're sure).

In addition to easing the financial burden of the virus for some lucky fans, the star publicly called for a freeze on rent, mortgage, and utility payments. "Millions of Americans are worried about keeping their jobs and their homes instead of staying safe," she wrote, later adding, "Please stay safe you guys! Love you! God bless you." And this is why we're Rexhars.

Kristin Chenoweth is terrified of coronavirus, albeit maybe not for the right reasons. In early January 2020 — when the virus was still spreading through China in the early stages of the global outbreak — the Emmy and Tony award winner told TMZ, "I'm scared because I've been so sick, and I don't — and I have to sing, and I can't get sick." Luckily, she already has a routine to cut down on germs and viruses while flying. This basically involves wearing a mask and spraying her entire immediate area with sterilizer, as she demonstrated on Late Night with Seth Meyers. 

In the midst of New York City's state of emergency and Broadway's closure, the sterilization queen created a TikTok public service announcement to teach us her virus-fighting ways. The video, captioned "High notes for Clorox wipes," shows the star running through the house, disinfecting high-touch surfaces in her kitchen like her refrigerator and kitchen sink, and belting out her highest notes after each swipe of a Clorox wipe. At this moment, Chenoweth is all of us who suddenly look forward to cleaning the house.

Weird Al Yankovic did us all a favor during this trying pandemic, where we have little to do but analyze whether our symptoms are seasonal allergies or a true life-threatening disease — and sit around watching music videos on YouTube. The star, known for such hits as "Germs" and "Party at the Leper Colony" has decided it is, indeed, too soon to joke about coronavirus. "Yeah, no, sorry," Yankovic tweeted, "Not gonna do 'My Corona.'"

Fans were disappointed, ignoring the fact that the song clearly writes itself and we've already had it stuck in our heads ad nauseam without him even recording it. One called him a "coward" (as a joke, we hope), and another replied, "That's too bad. It would go viral." Zing! Others claimed Yankovic's decision to not walk into the most obvious joke ever was a "classy move," and they were proud of the parody singer for "having integrity and refusing to 'make light' of a serious virus." Amish people, on the other hand, are apparently totally fair game.

In all seriousness, Weird Al may not want to do "My Corona," but can we have a reprise of "Another One Rides the Bus?" There are a whole lot of people out and about on public transit during this pandemic, and they need to go home.

The same day Cats raked in six Razzie Awards, Taylor Swift became a walking-PSA for social distancing. During this difficult time, the star, who played a cat in the ill-fated (and frankly, kind of insane) film, took her cat-lady behavior to a brand new level. No, she didn't use her quarantine as an opportunity to re-watch all of Grey's Anatomy with the only Meredith Grey who's still culturally relevant. The artist turned toward her precious fur-babies to learn how to best self-isolate. What better way than by watching a fickle, angelic beast that spends most of the day hiding out until it needs to be fed?

"For Meredith, self quarantining is a way of life," Swift tweeted, along with a picture of her cat Meredith sitting inside of a small, secluded, globe-shaped bed. "Be like Meredith. #QuarantineCats."

After the tweet, #QuarantineCats started trending on the platform. Earlier in the day, Swift used an Instagram to (perhaps rightly) scold her fans that weren't taking the pandemic seriously. "I'm seeing lots of get-togethers and hangs and parties still happening," she wrote (via CNN). "This is the time to cancel plans, actually truly isolate as much as you can and don't assume that because you don't feel sick that you aren't possibly passing something on to someone elderly or vulnerable to this."

In the wake of mass school closures, it's uncertain what will happen to millions of America's poorest students who rely on school-based programs to eat. According to CNBC, more than 30 million kids are served by the National School Lunch Program every single day, while 14.7 million kids rely on the School Breakfast Program, and 6.1 million children rely on the Child and Adult Care Food Program. With all this up-in-the-air, Justin Timberlake decided to chip in.

While Timberlake is probably much more a man of the house than a man of the woods during the coronavirus outbreak, the star emerged on Instagram to announce that he "would be donating to the Mid-South Food Bank in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee," according to CNN, who captured the Story.

"This is a crazy time, but remember we're all in it together," Timberlake wrote (via CNN). "Start small and support your local communities by getting food out to those in need."

Maren Morris did the public service of temporarily being a voice for those of us who could not speak up (or, at least, those of us who don't have a blue check mark that gives what we say validity). Like many of us, the country music star was appalled to see a video shared on Twitter that was reportedly taken in downtown Nashville, Tenn., where people were standing shoulder-to-shoulder as a band performed. "Downtown Nashville is undefeated," captioned the tweet, ignoring the fact that at that time, the state had 39 confirmed cases (which went up to 52 the next day, according to the Tennessean).

"While the rest of us are trying to be responsible in our homes and get this sh– over with, THIS?! Broadway, you aren't a hero for staying open," she tweeted. Weirdly enough, the star deleted her comment and, instead, retweeted a post about the importance of social distancing and Italy. Girl, say what you mean! All of us want to.

If Coachella — the single event that pretty much fuels a year's worth of FOMO and stands to face more than $100 million in lost income — has been postponed, we're pretty sure Nashville can deal. Shortly after the tweet, Nashville did end up closing all bars on Lower Broadway, according to the Tennessean. We can't say it's because of Morris' tweet, but the visibility probably didn't hurt.

Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic Terminator character, the coronavirus will be back if we don't do something to stop it. The former California governor sought to help terminate the illness with a bizarre PSA starring his mini horses, Whiskey and Lulu. "Stay at home as much as possible. Listen to the experts, ignore the morons (forehead). We will get through this together," he captioned the Twitter post.

In the video, Schwarzenegger fed his house horses carrots while noting that anybody over the age of 65 was no longer allowed outside of the house in the state of California, so he was eating his meals at home."Oh yes that's yummy," the 72-year-old star said, feeding Whiskey a carrot. "Lulu loves carrots, Whiskey loves carrots, I just had my little bit of vegan food. Oh, that was yummy, huh?"

Before the video ends, Schwarzenegger gives his horses big kisses (hey, that's not six feet of distance!) and warns one of them not to bite. It's a little weird, but raise your hand if you suddenly want to quarantine with a bunch of tiny horses. Who even knew you could keep horses as indoor pets?

Fashion icon Donatella Versace (above right) teamed up with her daughter Allegra Versace Beck (above left) to help relieve some of Italy's soaring medical costs. According to Page Six, the country had more cases than any other place except China, as of March 16, 2020. As a result, the country instituted a nationwide lockdown, which Italians attempted to ease by singing from their balconies, however, their hospitals remained "overwhelmed." In response, the Versaces sent $222,315 to San Raffaele hospital in Milan to help.

"In times like this, it is important to be united and support however we can to help all those who are in the front lines, fighting every day to save hundreds of lives," she wrote on Instagram, adding, "Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this disease and to all the doctors and medical staff who have been working heroically non-stop in the past weeks in the effort to take care of our loved ones."

As of this writing, NBC News reports that Italy has seen nearly 28,000 diagnosed cases with 2,158 fatalities. According to The Atlantic, the number of cases is so overwhelming that doctors have been told they may need to, essentially, practice "catastrophe medicine" and choose which patients to treat based on the likelihood of survival. This means that those who are vulnerable to the disease, like immunosuppressed individuals and older patients, may be "left to die."

Country star Dierks Bentley won't let Nashville, Tenn. be defeated because he's ending the game before a winner can even be declared. Before the city announced sweeping closures of bars — including the highly popular downtown area where that viral Twitter video was reportedly taken — the star indefinitely closed his bar, Whiskey Row.

TMZ reports that Whiskey Row is located in the popular tourist area of Lower Broadway, the same area Maren Morris said wasn't a "hero for staying open." In this case, the "What Was I Thinkin'" crooner might actually be the real hero. Though he decided to close the bar indefinitely, he's planning to look after his employees. The star vowed to give each of his 90 hourly employees $1,000 off-the-bat "to help in the short run as our community and country try to get a handle on the situation," according to TMZ.

With this, Bentley urged other bar owners to follow his lead and protect their most vulnerable employees, like bar-backs and waitresses. Other country stars like Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line also closed their bars.

Mel Brooks and his son Max Brooks are teaching everyone how to keep their social distance, something that's particularly important for the pair. At the time of this writing, Mel — who's decades long career includes roles in The Muppet Movie, Spaceballs, and Toy Story 4 – is 93 years old, which puts him in a high risk category for coronavirus complications. Max, who wrote the book World War Z, is 47 years old and has much less of a risk, comparatively. 

"If I get the coronavirus, I'll probably be okay," Max said in the short PSA, while Mel stood behind a glass door. "But if I give it to him, he could give it to Carl Reiner, who could give it to Dick Van Dyke, and before I know it, I've wiped out a whole generation of comedic legends."

Max then reminded people to stay home as much as possible, avoid crowds, social distance, and stay six feet away from other people. These are similar to the recommended guidelines at the time from the Center for Disease Control, but perhaps the best advice came from Mel himself. According to Page Six, the actor's advice for living a long life, in general, is "don't die." Comedy legend indeed. 

Camila Cabello is taking self-care to a new level during the lockdown. While the rest of us have barely left our beds, using the fact that the nation's gyms are closed as a reason to never work out again, Cabello was flexing her mental health muscles. The star urged her followers to start meditating during the coronavirus panic, and to try watching YouTube videos or using the app Calm to guide them.

In an Instagram post, Cabello opened up about her history of anxiety. She claimed she had been experiencing "severe anxiety" before picking up meditation a few months ago. She revealed that "practicing every single day multiple times a day" has helped heal her, taught her how to "manage strong emotions like anxiety and stress," and made her an all around better person. "Not only does it help in times like this with stress and anxiety, meditation is the practice of strengthening habits like empathy, love, and compassion — making you feel more connected to not only everybody around you," she wrote, adding, "In times like these, especially as young people, even if we are healthy, it's important to practice compassion and help others that could be suffering."

There's no word on if Cabello is self-isolating with Shawn Mendes, but watching the pair sloppy kiss makes us kind of hope they aren't, so we never have to see that again. It's kind of sweet though, isn't it?

Miley Cyrus has clearly been sitting at home in the middle of a global pandemic, reminiscing about a simpler time, like way back when she had the best of both worlds. Though, one could argue that her recent mullet has indeed given the singer the best of both worlds (it's a style that apparently suits everyone in the family). What we're trying to say is that the star has been posting loads of Hannah Montana videos in an attempt to spread coronavirus awareness.

The first video the star posted was captioned "Day 2 Quarantine. This is the REAL ME. RIGHT NOW" and depicted Cyrus' Disney character wearing a face mask and screaming in terror while trying to clean a messy bathroom. The second video depicted Cyrus' on-screen BFFs lugging shopping bags while exasperated. Cyrus used the post to urge fans not to panic buy. "Be thoughtful. Respectful. Compassionate. HUMAN. while preparing for social distancing.... NO ONE needs every soup in the store," she wrote. 

With the third video, which depicted her character's best friend scrubbing the leaves of the plant, Cyrus promoted stringent disinfecting practices. "Find yourself a Lilly," she captioned the post, adding the hashtag #HannahMontanapredictedcoronavirus. The hashtag might have started a conspiracy theory, but it also let fans spread the word. Fans have taken to posting virus-related memes of the star, with one even urging readers to consult a doctor at the first sign of symptoms.