Embattled rugby star Israel Folau has started a GoFundMe page, asking the public to pitch in for his impending legal battle with Rugby Australia.
In case you missed it, Rugby Australia ripped up Folau’s multimillion-dollar contract last month, ruling Folau was guilty of a high-level breach of the players’ code in a series of controversial Instagram and Twitter posts which claimed hell awaited “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers” and others.
It followed similar social media posts made last year.
Folau is fighting the decision in court, and now he’s asking the public to help out.
“Every Australian should be able to practise their religion without fear of discrimination in the workplace,” Folau says in a video on the GoFundMe page.
“Rugby Australia has an army of lawyers at their disposal and they have already said they will divert significant resources to fight me in court.
“The cost to me and my family of continuing my legal action against Rugby Australia is expected to be significant.”
At the time of publication, the fund had already received over $144K.
Despite gaining plenty of cash, Folau is copping his fair share of hate on social media.
For goodness sake, if you feel the need to help someone with your coin, how about making it someone in genuine need rather than a footballer moaning that he can't make hate speech while in receipt of a $4 million dollar contract. #IsraelFolau https://t.co/qfD1Zm6rNX
— Jackie McMillan (@MissDissentEats) June 20, 2019
And while Folau will no doubt continue to cop plenty of backlash for his decision to start the GoFundMe page, it’s probably not the worst crowdfunding effort the internet has given us.
Take, for instance, Catalin Onc and Elena Engelhardt, the Instagram couple that asked their followers to fund their tandem bike ride from Germany to Africa.
To make matters worse, the pair openly admit they are funded by Onc’s mother and that they have no plans to get a job any time soon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfINE3l3AI/?utm_source=ig_embed
Or there is rapper and apparently adamant flat-earther B.o.B, who set up a GoFundMe in 2017 asking for $1 million to “launch one, if not multiple, satellites into space,” toward the goal of “finding the curve”.
https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691411463051804676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E691411463051804676&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2Ftldr%2F2017%2F9%2F26%2F16369890%2Fbob-flat-earth-satellite-gofundme-scam-crowdfunding-conspiracy
And then there is Frank Pain, the Foo Fighters megafan who asked the internet to give him $35,000 so he could buy Dave Grohl.
“I’m his biggest fan and figured I can round up enough scratch to purchase him so we can hang out and high five and s**t. Heck, I may give him a bro-hug or two as well,” he said on his GoFundMe, which has raised $1,854.
And finally, there was this woman from New York, who in 2016 asked for money to remove the 420 tattoo she got on her forehead.
