Mandy Moore attends in-laws fundraiser in Los Angeles and addresses backlash

Mandy Moore rejects criticism of her response to the California wildfires.

The 40-year-old This Is Us star spoke out about the backlash after she shared a link to a fundraiser for her in-laws Griff and Kit Goldsmith, who lost their home in one of the Los Angeles area fires.

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Moore told her followers that her brother-in-law and sister-in-law “lost their home and everything they owned” in the Eaton fire. “Please consider donating and sharing to help them rebuild,” the actress wrote, referencing a GoFundMe page.

“With their first baby due within weeks, they need our support now more than ever,” Moore’s post reads.

“Griff is a touring musician and has also lost his entire arsenal of drums/percussion that he uses for a living. It’s all so much.”

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However, some fans criticized Moore for seeking donations and questioned why she didn’t donate the entire $60,000 goal herself.

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“The audacity of you, a multi-millionaire, asking ordinary people living paycheck to paycheck to donate to YOUR family member when you could easily give the full target amount without it financially impacting your family in any way,” says one comment.

Moore responded to the criticism by writing on Instagram: “People asking if we are helping our own families or if we are crediting anyone with an arbitrary amount of money that Google claims is NOT helpful or empathetic. Of course we are.”

She added: “Our mate Matt set up this donation for me and I’m sharing it because people have been asking how they can help. We also just lost most of our lives in a fire. Kindly F OFF. Nobody forces you to do anything.”

The GoFundMe page raised more than $200,000 before new donations were disabled.

The “Candy” singer shared earlier this week that she was evacuating her home in California and wasn’t sure if the house would make it.

On Wednesday, she said she was “grateful that my family and pets got out last night before it was too late” and that she was “shocked and stunned for everything so many have lost, including my family.” Moore added that her children’s school in Altadena “disappeared,” her “favorite restaurants” were “razed,” and “so many friends and loved ones also lost everything.”

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On Thursday, Moore said she was able to return to her street to survey the damage and discovered that “miraculously the main part of our house is still standing.” But Moore said that “we lost our garage and our back house,” as well as a studio that was used by her musician husband, Taylor Goldsmith.

“Everyone we know has lost everything,” Moore wrote. “Every house on our street is gone. My in-laws. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law – 6 weeks after giving birth to their first baby. Our best friends. We feel strange and guilty. We love this community and will do everything we can to help rebuild and provide support.”

Numerous celebrities have lost their homes in the Los Angeles area fires, including Moore’s “This Is Us” co-star Milo Ventimiglia. In an emotional interview, Ventimiglia told CBS News it was “hard” to return to his home and see it destroyed.

“You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house,” he said. “And then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything around them, and your heart just breaks.”

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Mandy Moore attends in-laws fundraiser in Los Angeles and addresses backlash

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