Pat McAfee Donated $5k To Kelly Smiley’s GoFundMe Before Racist Tweets Surfaced

Update: Pat McAfee has reacted to this situation with a public statement.

Original: Kelly Smiley suffered a terrible injury after she fell from the stage while photographing the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl victory parade. An outpouring of public support rolled in in the aftermath. Smiley revealed that she broke thousands of dollars in photographic equipment and suffered a fractured spine.

A GoFundMe was immediately set up by a friend. Matthew and Kelly Stafford stepped up and offered to pay Smiley’s medical bills. Big names donated to the GoFundMe.

Former NFL player, famed podcaster, and WWE commentator Pat McAfee was among those who was duped. McAfee donated a generous $5,000 to the cause. Just like everybody else, he could not have possibly known what was to follow.

Social media sleuths uncovered a bevy of posts from Kelly Smileys past that painted her in a much less sympathetic light. Racist and homophobic language were regularly used by the photographer in her past. Outrage quickly spread as the alleged tweets went viral.

Kelly Stafford deleted her Twitter account in response. The GoFundMe donations page was paused. Many are wondering if the people who donated will be able to get their money back.

It all seemed like everyone was coming together to support a good cause. Kelly seemed to be well-liked by her friends and the huge amount of donations neared $50,000. Unfortunately, many of those people will be forced to explain themselves when they only had the best of intentions.

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