“Modern Family” star Ariel Winter took aim at the haters on Tuesday, saying she was “shocked” about all of the “hate tweets” she’s received after posting a message seeking help for her ailing cousin.
In a message posted to her Twitter account, Winter wrote, “I’m shocked at how many people have sent me hate tweets about my cousin instead of a simple, kind message showing him some love and support. Nothing else needed to be done aside from that.”
The actress continued, “I re-posted a gofundme that my cousin’s friend made just as anyone else would. Hurtful.”
Winter’s tweet came after she shared a message on her Twitter account Monday linking to a GoFundMe page. In a message book-ended by broken-heart emojis, Winter wrote, “this is my cousin Tino. If you can, please consider donating to his recovery fund. Anything helps. I love him so much.”
According to the GoFundMe page, Tino was rushed to the emergency room on April 5 and “was immediately admitted to the ICU and put on Life-Support.”
The GoFundMe campaign added that the doctors “have determined that it/was something called Haemophilus Influenzae which could have led to untreatable and deadly bacterial Meningitis.”
In the comments section of Winter’s tweet, a number of people questioned why Winter was requesting financial assistance for her cousin when she might be able to provide the assistance herself.
“No offense but like you obviously have the money if not all of it some of it to help your cousin so why are you asking your fans for the money,” one commenter wrote.
“Surely you’re able to throw some if not all of the $15k in,” wrote another responder.
“I love when people who are in the 1% as [sic] us to donate,” read another response. “His 15k goal compared to what you make seems so small. Why not pick up the tab.”
While Winter’s follow-up tweet Tuesday did receive sympathetic responses, it was also greeted with similar criticism to that of its predecessor.
“Not a hate tweet but it is funny how all the rich / well off people want all the poor people to pay for everything right. The poor always volunteer while the wealthy take trips and such. Just saying,” one response read.
“It’s hurtful how ignorant you are on what is going on in this world,” read another response. “Thousands of children without clean water or food and you post a go fund me for some well off dude that is required to have health insurance.”
Read Winter’s message below.
I’m shocked at how many people have sent me hate tweets about my cousin instead of a simple, kind message showing him some love and support. Nothing else needed to be done aside from that. I re-posted a gofundme that my cousin’s friend made just as anyone else would. Hurtful.
— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) April 9, 2019