Spoof Katie Hopkins JustGiving appeal raises funds for The Trussell Trust
Melanie May | 15 March 2017 | News
A JustGiving page set up, ostensibly in support of Katie Hopkins and to raise the cost of her legal fees from the recent court case with Jack Monroe, has so far raised almost £15,000 for The Trussell Trust.
The campaign raised £8,000 in its first 24 hours, and has now raised £14,983 of its £324,000 target, from 1,288 supporters, as of this morning, 15th March.
Set up by ‘Katie Reporter’, the page states that as, on the 10th March, a court had ruled that ‘the amazing and beautiful Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins had libelled food blogger and poverty campaigner Jack Monroe on Twitter in 2015’, it would like to raise the full amount necessary to cover the legal fees and damages, to avoid Hopkins suffering financial hardship.
However, the page explains, Southend News Network is in fact behind the campaign, and all the money raised will go to The Trussell Trust. The satirical news site says it was inspired to set up the page because Hopkins once fell for one of its spoof stories about the M25 being closed for a week for a fitness and endurance race.
The campaign follows the court case that saw Monroe sue Hopkins for libel over two tweets made in May 2015 that Monroe said caused her reputation serious harm. Monroe won £24,000 damages plus legal costs: estimated to reach £324,000.
The donations to ‘Katie Reporter’s’ page are the latest in a line of campaigns asking people to respond to something they disagree with or dislike by donating to charity. If donations are made in an individual’s name, as with the Mike Pence Planned Parenthood case, that individual receives a confirmation for each gift made.
Tools that let people donate in Twitter, including the app Trigger, which allows people to retaliate to a tweet with a donation to a nonprofit, and Goodworld, which lets people donate by using a hashtag on Twitter as well as on Facebook and the web, are also growing in popularity.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.