Fact Check: Leonardo DiCaprio Donates $10 Million to Kyiv Forces; His Grandmother Hailed From Ukraine

Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio has donated to multiple humanitarian groups that are supporting Ukraine at the time of the war but previous reports of his $10 million donation directly to Kyiv were false.

DiCaprio's Grandmother Was Not From Ukraine

A fresh report was widely circulated and published by multiple media organisations in recent days claiming that DiCaprio's grandmother was from Ukraine.

Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio Reuters

Both pieces of information have turned out to be wrong as neither his grandmother had any links to Ukraine nor he donated $10 to the country, revealed a person close to the actor.

DiCaprio Donated to Humanitarian Groups

Reports also said the actor has donated to the humanitarian groups CARE, International Rescue Committee, the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children in support of Ukraine.

Earlier the fake report claimed that DiCaprio donated $10million to a fund for Ukraine, where his grandmother was born in 1915.

According to the viral report, DiCaprio was very close to his grandmother Helene Indenbirken and would take her to premiers of many of his films. DiCaprio would call her 'Oma', reported Snopes, a fact-checking website.

Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

International Visegrad Fund had announced the donation by the Hollywood actor, according to the fake report.

The report has turned out to be untrue but the actor has certainly made some donations of an unknown amount to multiple humanitarian organizations to work for Ukraine.

Many news stories about the fake donation cited a report published by a website 'Polish News' on March 7. But the earliest iteration of this claim was published on guyanasouthamerica.gy on March 5 referring to anonymous sources inside Ukraine, according to Snopes.

The Hollywood superstar had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2010 at a St. Petersburg program focusing on the endangered Siberian tiger. DiCaprio was also designated by the UN as its messenger of peace with a special focus on climate change.

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