“I finance climate activism and applaud the action on Van Gogh,” he told the newspaper. The Guardian last October 22. While the images of the two activists of the Just Stop Oil collective, who throw tomato sauce on the protective glass of the painting Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, were still making headlines, Aileen Getty publicly declared her moral … and financial support. American billionaire accustomed to the tabloid press, Aileen Getty is not a generous benefactress like the others.
We need to take disruptive action on the climate crisis before it’s too late
Aileen Getty
In 2019, Aileen Getty founded the Climate Emergency Fund, (in French the Climate Emergency Fund). He has since also helped finance it. This fund provides grants to non-violent movements engaged in climate activism, such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. The latter calls in particular for the stop of new oil and gas drilling. “I don’t fund these groups directly and have no direct control over the specific actions climate activists choose to take,” Getty said in his editorial. Guardian. But the 65-year-old American does not hide her pride in contributing to these actions, which she defends by declaring: “we must take disruptive measures against the climate crisis before it’s too late”. A position that may seem surprising for the heir of a family whose wealth was made on the exploitation of oil.
The Gettys, a family like no other
“I am the daughter of a famous family who built their fortune on fossil fuels”recognizes in the pages of the Guardian. Aileen is in fact the granddaughter of J. Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company and oil tycoon in the 1960s. According to the magazine Forbes, in 2015 the Gettys were the 56th richest family in the United States. As heir to an illicit fortune, Aileen Getty appears to want to buy back the shares of her ancestors. “We now know that the extraction and use of these fuels kills life on our planet,” she explains. Our family sold this business forty years ago and I have vowed to use my resources in all measures necessary to protect life on Earth. ”
A life of activism
Aileen Getty has not always been known only for her generosity towards protecting the environment. In 1981 he married Christopher Wilding, son of Elizabeth Taylor. Together they have two children. The couple divorced in 1987 for reasons that would be dramatically explained a few years later. In 1991, the billionaire publicly revealed that he was HIV-positive. According to her Liberation, she then explains she was infected with HIV in 1985 after having unprotected sex during an extramarital affair. She later became a public figure in the fight against HIV and she cared for AIDS patients and the homeless. Her notoriety also allows him to rally celebrities such as Princess Diana and Elton John to her commitment. A life of activism that she does not intend to interrupt anytime soon.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
