Dr. Phil McGraw spoke out Friday after receiving backlash against his Thursday comments dismissing the coronavirus response in America, which has involved the widespread, temporary shuttering of businesses as most Americans stay locked down in their homes.
During a livestream, he said, “Last night, I said we as a society have chosen to live with certain controllable deadly risks every day — smoking, auto crashes, swimming — and yes, I know that those are not contagious, so, probably bad examples. And I refer to them as numbers of deaths that we apparently find acceptable because we do little or nothing about them. I get that they are not contagious, so they are probably not good examples.”
During an appearance on Thursday night’s “The Ingraham Angle,” McGraw, who is not a medical doctor but holds a PhD in psychology, downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, comparing the death toll (inaccurately) to swimming pool-related deaths, among other things.
He was roundly criticized, with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough dedicated a chunk of Friday’s “Morning Joe” to calling out “the stupidity of that.” McGraw’s name trended on Twitter Thursday night into Friday afternoon.
During his livestream, McGraw insisted his message is one of unity and added, “I am not an infectious disease expert. I am not a microbiologist. I look at this from a human-behavior psychological standpoint.”
These Celebrities Reached Into Their Pockets to Help Us Get Through the Pandemic (Photos)
As the number of people sickened by COVID-19 continues to rise, there is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the pandemic. And that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us. These famous do-gooders are reaching into their own pockets to make life under quarantine just a little bit easier.
Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey announced on social media that she is donating $10 million to relief efforts, with $1 million of that specifically helping people who are struggling to buy food during the pandemic.
Getty Images
Rihanna’s charitable organization Clara Lionel Foundation made a commitment of $5 million that will go to U.S. food banks as well as to helping advance testing in at-risk communities both in the U.S. and in Haiti and Malawi. The foundation — along with Twitter's Jack Dorsey — also partnered with the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles and committed $2.1 million toward shelter, meals and counseling for victims of domestic violence. The fund, combined with Dorsey's contribution, totals $4.2 million.
Getty Images
10-time Grammy-winner Taylor Swift has been quietly contacting people on social media who have said they've been struggling to pay bills during the pandemic. Those users then shared screenshots of Swift making donations to them of several thousand dollars each.
Getty Images
TV host Kelly Ripa and husand Mark Consuelos donated $1 million to both the New York governor’s office, for the purchase of ventilators, and WIN, a New York-based organization that provides shelters to homeless women and children.
Getty Images
Writer Roxane Gay has tweeted several times during the pandemic asking for those struggling to pay bills during the pandemic to share their mobile payment handle to receive personal donations from her.
Getty Images
Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively announced on social media that they donated $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.
Getty Images
Pop star Ariana Grande said in her Instagram Stories that she had made donations to several organizations, including Opportunity Fund, GiveDirectly, Feeding America, Croce Rossa Italiana and the World Health Organization.
Getty Images
A physician in Los Angeles, Dr. Thais Aliabad, wrote on Instagram that Kylie Jenner, one of her patients, had "donated $1,000,000 to help us buy hundreds of thousands of masks, face shields, and other protective gear."
Getty Images
NFL player Drew Brees told TMZ that he's donating $5 million to the state of Louisiana to help with the coronavirus relief efforts.
Getty Images
Oscar-winning actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie donated $1 million to No Kid Hungry to help provide meals for children in low-income families, the organization said in a statement.
Getty Images
Country music legend Dolly Parton said on Instagram that she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt's research for a COVID-19 cure.
Getty Images
Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation matched Rihanna's donation of $1 million to relief efforts.
Getty Images
Bruno Mars, who has a residency in Las Vegas, donated $1 million to the MGM Resorts Foundation to help MGM employees in the city who lost work due to the pandemic, his representative said, according to E News.
Getty Images
The players, coaches and owners of the Golden State Warriors announced they are donating $1 million to help employees at the Chase Center who lost work because of canceled NBC games.
Getty Images
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg partnered with a Silicon Valley food bank to put $5.5 million toward creating the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Feeding Families.
Getty Images
Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said on his platform that he is donating $1 billion in shares of his other company Square Inc. to help fund relief efforts. Dorsey said it is about 28% of his wealth. After "we disarm the pandemic," Dorsey said, the money will also help fund girls' health and education, as well as universal basic income.
Along with Rihanna's charitable foundation, committed $2.1 million toward shelter, meals and counseling for victims of domestic violence for a total $4.2 million grant.
Getty Images
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said on Instagram that he is giving $100 million to Feeding America, an organization with more than 200 food banks across the country.
Getty Images
Beyonce's BeyGOOD foundation also partnered with Jack Dorsey, teaming up with his #startsmall initiative to donate $6 million to local community organizations so they can provide necessities like food, cleaning supplies, protective gear, medicines and more.
Getty
Greg Berlanti pledged $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds that will go directly to the 5,000 staffers working on the 17 series currently in play at Berlanti Productions, as well as others in the entertainment industry that have been affected by the shutdown. He announced the gesture in a company-wide memo on April 29
Getty
1 of 20
There is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the coronavirus pandemic, and that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us
As the number of people sickened by COVID-19 continues to rise, there is certainly no shortage of kind acts from people helping others get through the pandemic. And that includes celebrities and Hollywood artists social distancing like the rest of us. These famous do-gooders are reaching into their own pockets to make life under quarantine just a little bit easier.
Getty Images
Getty Images
