Ten years ago, Ellen Pompeo appeared in a Taylor Swift music video. At the time, the Grey’s Anatomy star was volunteering at a children’s hospital. Though Taylor hardly knew Ellen, she didn’t hesitate to donate money to the cause, Ellen revealed while on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Ellen explained why she asked Taylor for money.
Ellen appeared in Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video in 2014. At the time, she and her husband, Chris Ivery, were volunteering at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Their program was in need of money, so Ellen decided to ask Taylor to donate.
“At the time, Chris and I, we do a lot of volunteering for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles here and they have an amazing program at Children’s where they make music for the babies in the NICU and for the parents who have to go to work all day and they can’t be with the kids,” Ellen explained on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
“They record their voices singing nursery rhymes or telling them stories and they play it for the babies in the day when the parents can’t be there,” she explained. “The babies respond to it and it makes their outcomes more positive.”
Though it’s a “really nice program,” Ellen said, “they need money to run it.”
She praised the pop star for her generosity.
When Ellen asked Taylor to donate to the program, Taylor seemed eager to help out. “She knew me all but 20 minutes and that girl wrote me the biggest check without blinking an eye,” Ellen revealed.
Swifties praised Taylor for her charitable contributions.
“Doing all these donations right and left without making any noise about it is beautiful,” one fan wrote on Reddit after hearing Ellen’s story.
A second fan said “Taylor Swift could be a role model for what billionaires should be like.”
Another Swiftie agreed, writing: “She is always being mentioned giving a lot of money for a lot of causes. I wish others rich people weren’t so cheap..”
Throughout her career, Taylor has donated to numerous causes. Amid Hurricanes Helene and Milton in October 2024, Taylor donated $5 million. In January, she donated to organizations supporting Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts.
But critics said it’s ‘easy’ for Taylor to donate.
To some people, Taylor’s donations aren’t a big deal since she’s extremely wealthy. “As she should,” one person wrote in response to Ellen’s story. “We’re way past believing there’s anything ethical about amassing that much wealth.”
“Her giving someone $5m is equivalent to you giving a homeless person $5 when you have just $1000 in the bank,” a second person wrote.
A third person pointed out that it’s “pretty easy to [donate money] when you have means beyond means…” However, others called these critiques too “cynical.”
“Sure, it’s easy to donate when you’re rich,” another person admitted. “But it’s even easier to just not donate or help anybody at all.”
