Yesterday, Lainey wrote about Gwyneth Paltrow’s contribution of “great sentimental value” to the All In Challenge, following Drake and JBiebs. The All In Challenge is a charity sweepstakes where people can enter to win amazing prizes. Celebs are being asked to go “all in” and provide either a “cherished possession” or a “once in a lifetime fan experience” to help raise money for pandemic-induced “food insecurity”.

The latest celebrities to join the challenge are Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. You’ll remember of course that the two are “sworn enemies”. This time, and this time only, they’ve agreed to hit the pause button on their “feud” and are offering to fly to your house and help your kid sell lemonade…together. Just out of curiosity, do you have to have a kid in order to enter? Asking for a friend.

Of course, there’s a video that accompanies the temporary truce:

I love that there’s something for everyone in the All In Challenge. Lainey gets Air Drake, Sasha gets an evening with J Biebs, and I get to make lemonade with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Who’s next on the list? Will Maria get to have lunch with the stars of RHONY? Or maybe it would be more interesting to just watch them have lunch through a two way mirror.

I digress. In the past month, celebs have responded to the COVID-19 crisis in different ways. There’s of course the poorly received “Imagine” video. But others have donated to local charities and foodbanks (including Reynolds himself). Lady Gaga organized a whole concert that raised almost $130 million. And many more are asking fans to donate if they can afford to. There’s also lots of celeb livestreams, TikToks, and other content designed to keep fans entertained while they self-isolate at home.

Celebrities have a lot of tools at their disposal: they have a sh-t ton of money, they have the talent to create, but they also have enormous amounts of fame and clout. In their supportive efforts, many have tapped into the first two, but only a few like RyJack are using the third. The difference between what they’re offering and what other celebs offer is that it’s not really a thing. It’s funny and kind of ridiculous, which is perfectly on brand. But are they really saying that making lemonade with your kid is on the same level as flying to LA on Drake’s private jet?  

YES!!!! That’s exactly what they’re saying!!! RyJack are using an imaginary feud to raise real money for real charities. That’s next level!  

The question I have is whether this kind of gag is going to be received well right now. Or is it insensitive given what’s going on? There are two schools of thought. Someone could criticize RyJack for not reading the room during a serious and dangerous situation. Someone else might praise them for giving fans a much needed break from the onslaught of bad news and COVID updates.

Did you see that Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic said that releasing music during a pandemic was “tone deaf”? This is kind of similar. Do art and humour have a place when the world is focused on staying alive? Or are those the very things that help us get through such a difficult time?  

I think that now is a time when we need the humor of RyJack. It’s little things like this that give us a brief respite from the worry and fear of an unknown situation. Like just last week, we learned that Scarlett Johansson is actually why the feud started. (First Ghost in the Shell and now this? Come on Scarjo!) At the end of the day, RyJack are raising money for a good cause. Is it so bad that we also get a little laugh out of it too?