The Jenners and the Kardashians are quite wealthy thanks to some savvy pop culture moves. The combination of Kim, Khloe, Kris, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian with Kendall and Kylie Jenner were worth just over an estimated $2 billion.
Kylie Jenner, a 23-year-old entrepreneur who founded Kylie Cosmetics, is reportedly worth just under $900 million all by herself.
Why is this relevant?
In the case of Kylie Jenner's friend and sometimes employee Samuel Rauda, the money is relevant.
Rauda, a makeup artist, was involved in a serious accident that left him in need of surgery. Jenner re-posted a GoFundMe page for Rauda, set up by his family, asking people to donate to it via her Instagram story.
Jenner ultimately donated $5,000 to Rauda's fund. The goal was $60,000.
Both sums are a mere fraction of Jenner's overall wealth.
Jenner's unspoken refusal to cover the entire cost of the surgery drew sharp criticism from across the internet.
Asking her fans and followers for this, most of whom are middle to lower income young people, rather than asking her affluent family and friends also drew disdain.
While few celebrities have enough liquid capital to address every need they see in the world, Rauda's role as a personal friend and occasional employee of Jenner put him in a different status than celebrities who help raise funds for strangers or charitable organizations.
Jenner has as yet not responded to the controversy.
The concept of crowdfunding lifesaving, necessary healthcare is largely isolated to the United States among first-world nations. The one thing many of those condemning Jenner haven't addressed is if those with the highest levels of wealth paid taxes just equal to the percentage paid by the middle class, the United States could afford universal healthcare for everyone.
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