False: Leonardo DiCaprio has donated $10 million to the International Visegrad Fund to support Ukraine.

By: Ishita Goel
March 10 2022

Share Article: facebook logo twitter logo linkedin logo
False: Leonardo DiCaprio has donated $10 million to the International Visegrad Fund to support Ukraine.

Fact-Check

The Verdict False

The International Visegrad Fund denies Leonardo DiCaprio has donated in support of Ukraine, but he has donated to other humanitarian organizations.

Claim ID c0093d7e

The International Visegrad Fund denies Leonardo DiCaprio has donated in support of Ukraine, but he has donated to other humanitarian organizations.Leonardo DiCaprio is a well-known American actor, film producer, and environmentalist who has recently been in the headlines, with claims that he has donated $10 million to an organization known as the International Visegrad Fund to support Ukraine. Furthermore, some reports have suggested that DiCaprio's grandmother came from Ukraine, and the donation was therefore personally motivated. The International Visegrad Fund is an international donor organization formed by the Visegrad Group countries – Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – to promote regional cooperation in the Visegrad region (V4). When checking the personal website of DiCaprio as well as the International Visegrad Fund, we could not find any reports or articles referring to donations in support of Ukraine. Additionally, on March 8, the International Visegrad Fund published a denial on Facebook by citing the matter as an example: "some media outlets informed today that the International Visegrad Fund announced a USD 10 million donation from a famous American actor to help Ukraine." Further, they advised that "Nowadays, fake news is present in any form and shape. Please, be aware of your sources, follow credible journalists and media, and do not spread fake news." On March 9, Insider cited a person close to DiCaprio claiming he had donated to the humanitarian groups supporting Ukraine such as CARE, International Rescue Committee, the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees, and Save the Children, but that he had no familial ties to Ukraine. Lucia Becová, a spokesperson of the International Visegrad Fund, told Insider that "We are not aware, neither do we have any information about Leonardo DiCaprio donating USD 10 million/£7.6 million to Ukraine. International Visegrad Fund has not announced this information." Finally, since DiCaprio is a messenger for peace for the UNHCR, he donates to humanitarian organizations but no figures are disclosed publically, and we have found no evidence for the claim he has donated to the International Visegrad Fund. Therefore, we mark the claim as false.

Would you like to submit a claim to fact-check or contact our editorial team?

0
Global Fact-Checks Completed

We rely on information to make meaningful decisions that affect our lives, but the nature of the internet means that misinformation reaches more people faster than ever before