Zayn Malik's heartfelt gesture turned on him thanks to online "trolls."
Last week, the former boy bander-turned-solo artist took to Twitter to ask his 21.7 million followers to donated to a GoFundMe page for his mom's best friend Ayesha. Ayesha is battling stage four cancer.
"This is my Mums best friend," he wrote alongside a link to the crowd fundraising page. "Please help in any way possible 🙏."
The page is hoping to raise $155,000 so that Ayesha can undergo specific treatments in Turkey. On her GoFundMe page, Ayesha detailed why this specific procedure is necessary for her to live.
While some fans were supportive of Zayn and his gesture, others were not.
"Aren't you like super rich?," one person wrote. Another said, "Sorry, but gofundme was started for poor people to get help. He's taking undue advantage of his stardom to mobilize his fanbase to pay for something he can easily afford on his own. This money could be used elsewhere for someone who's been hopeful for a while. It really defeats the purpose if rich people use it."
One person said, "You're the one with millions. YOU help."
The vitriolic comments forced Ayesha to come to Zayn's defense.
"I'm so pleased that you genuine peeps are still donating and helping my cause. I've had a fabulous response to my page and posts, from both friends and strangers,but this response is tinged with sadness for me..," she wrote. "I asked my 'nephew' Zayn Malik to drum up some publicity for me, by way of highlighting my page and illness via Twitter. This has had an adverse effect for him as the spiteful trolls are attacking him for his kindness.
"Never, ever would I ask him for financial help in any way, and I wouldn't want it any other way. My request was for him to enlighten the public of my sad plight and he did exactly as I asked. So come on all you trolls, give him a break please and let's just get on with the fundraising."