Kal Penn launches fundraiser for refugees in the name of a social media troll, raises $750,000

When you are a celebrity, trolling is an inherent occupational hazard. When you’re a celebrity in the Trump administration, things get a lot more problematic. But when you’re an actor who was born to Indian immigrant parents and also happened to be the associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement for Barack Obama, social media comments get downright vicious. In case you’re wondering what the name of this very specific celebrity example is, it’s none other than Kal Penn.

Penn aka Kalpen Suresh Modi has grown quite accustomed to vile, racist comments on his social media posts. But in light of the Muslim ban and many other antics under the Donald Trump administration, things were getting out of hand, and Penn decided to do something about it. So when a faceless denizen of Instagram told Penn, and we quote, “because you don’t belong in this country you f****** joke,” the actor decided to channel this hatred for good.

To the dude who said I don't belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name. https://t.co/NOR5P48fBi pic.twitter.com/jtJOsK9GrU

— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 28, 2017

“To the dude who said I don’t belong in America, I started a fundraising page for Syrian Refugees in your name,” Penn tweeted in a refreshingly positive spin on the hateful comment. The fundraiser crossed halfway through it’s donor goal in a span of 11 minutes. “We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don’t belong in our own country, that America can’t be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world. We will turn their bigotry, along with the President’s, into love,” Penn explains in his fundraising description. It did spread a lot of love indeed, as the the fundraiser has amassed $ 752,809 so far!

Penn has decided to donate the money to the International Rescue Committee , an organisation that is focused on helping refugees across the globe. Penn also held a Twitter Q & A to let donors know where the would be utilised and how they would help refugees.

I’ll be live w/ @theIRC from 6-6:30pmET on Twitter answering questions about their work & why we’re supporting them. Join us! Stay tuned. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/swCoDjubpL

— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) January 30, 2017

There’s no doubt that this was probably the most productive retort to online harrasment in the history of all retorts. Perhaps Donald Trump and his Twitter-ready hands could learn a thing or two from this immigrant.