{"id":2400708,"date":"2025-02-09T07:47:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T12:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ben-stiller-denies-taking-usaid-money-for-trip-to-ukraine-lies-coming-from-russian-media\/"},"modified":"2025-02-09T07:48:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T12:48:19","slug":"ben-stiller-denies-taking-usaid-money-for-trip-to-ukraine-lies-coming-from-russian-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ben-stiller-denies-taking-usaid-money-for-trip-to-ukraine-lies-coming-from-russian-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Stiller Denies Taking USAID Money for Trip to Ukraine: &#8216;Lies Coming from Russian Media&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fben-stiller-denies-taking-usaid-money-for-trip-to-ukraine-lies-coming-from-russian-media%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2400708&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Ben Stiller recently took to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media<\/a> to deny allegations that he received $4 \u200cmillion from the\u2063 U.S. Agency for International Growth (USAID) to fund his trip to Ukraine in 2022. The claims emerged from an AI-narrated video posted on X, which falsely\u2064 attributed the\u200b report to E! News. stiller clarified that he\u2063 wholly self-funded his humanitarian \u200btrip, asserting the accusations\u2062 stemmed from Russian media and labeling them as &#8220;100 percent false.&#8221; The \u200cvideo also listed other celebrities, including\u2063 Angelina Jolie and Sean Penn, alleging large amounts of money paid to them\u200c for their visits to ukraine. Though, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-starts-deleting-tweets-that-are-now-getting-fact-checked-by-twitter-under-musks-leadership\/\" title=\"White House Starts Deleting Tweets That Are Now Getting Fact Checked by Twitter Under Musk&#039;s Leadership\">community note<\/a> highlighted that the alleged\u2063 E! News report was fake, and Politifact confirmed that sean Penn&#8217;s travel was also self-funded. Despite the claims, it is factual\u200c that these celebrities have visited Ukraine\u2063 since \u2063the onset of the\u2062 conflict, but\u200c the financial\u2063 details remain \u2062unverified.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Actor Ben Stiller took to social media Wednesday to refute claims that he used American taxpayer money to fund his trip to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>An AI-narrated video d on X named numerous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/comedian-ricky-gervais-perfectly-skewers-woke-celebrities-insisted-getting-political-grammys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">celebrities<\/a> who visited Ukraine and were <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">allegedly paid millions<\/a> to do so by the U.S. Agency for International Development.<\/p>\n<p>The report, which was falsely attributed to E! News, claimed Stiller received $4 million from USAID to visit the country in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The &ldquo;Zoolander&rdquo; star was quick to shoot the claim down.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These are lies coming from Russian media,&rdquo; Stiller wrote on X. &ldquo;I completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trumps-peace-plan-ukraine-reportedly-leaked-ceasefire-easter-major-territorial-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ukraine<\/a>. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no payment of any kind.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>He added that the claims were &ldquo;100 percent false.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">These are lies coming from Russian media. I completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to Ukraine. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no payment of any kind.<\/p>\n<p>&#128175; percent false. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EFBPmrFQJ6\">https:\/\/t.co\/EFBPmrFQJ6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BenStiller\/status\/1887202576845971637?\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It is unclear how Stiller determined the Russian media was behind the video.<\/p>\n<p>He has since disabled general comments on his post.<\/p>\n<p>The report cited numerous other celebrities who allegedly took money from USAID:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Angelina Jolie &mdash; $20 million<\/li>\n<li>Sean Penn &mdash; $5 million<\/li>\n<li>Jean-Claude Van Damme &mdash; $1.5 million<\/li>\n<li>Orlando Bloom &mdash; $8 million<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to the report, the intent in paying the celebrities was to increase the popularity of Ukrainian President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mike-johnson-gets-asked-will-ukraine-aid-soon-zelenskyy-wont-like-answer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A community note, however, debunked that E! News had published the report.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This &lsquo;E News&rsquo; video is fake. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/despite-insistence-by-democrat-politicians-and-medical-elites-empirical-evidence-does-not-conclusively-show-that-masks-reduce-the-spread-of-covid\/\" title=\"Despite Insistence by Democrat Politicians and Medical Elites, Empirical Evidence DOES NOT Conclusively Show that Masks Reduce the Sp... of COVID\">doesn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t appear on the &lsquo;E News&rsquo; website, Instagram account, or X account. Also, the video&rsquo;s formatting is different from an actual &lsquo;E News&rsquo; video,&rdquo; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/twitter-slaps-biden-with-massive-fact-check-after-wh-tries-to-spread-lie-about-childrens-deaths\/\" title=\"Twitter fact-checks WH over false ... about children&#039;s deaths.\">community note read<\/a>. &ldquo;In the fake video, Jean-Claude Van Damme&rsquo;s name is spelled incorrectly.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While it&rsquo;s unclear if there is any truth to the claims, it is true that all of the celebrities mentioned did visit Ukraine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/full-list-celebrities-visited-ukraine-since-russia-war-began-1790876\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to Newsweek<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/world\/hollywood-actor-jean-claude-van-damme-visits-war-hit-ukraine-shouts-glory-to-ukraine-in-viral-video-11812901.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Firstpost<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2025\/feb\/07\/instagram-posts\/no-usaid-didnt-pay-hollywood-actors-millions-of-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politifact<\/a> reached out to the celebrities listed in the video.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/usaid-helped-dems-steal-2020-election-funding-wuhan-lab-created-covid-ultimate-excuse-illegal-election-tampering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USAID<\/a> funding was never used to pay for Sean Penn&rsquo;s travel to Ukraine; Mr. Penn self-funded his travel,&rdquo; Penn&rsquo;s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, told Politifact.<\/p>\n<p>The remaining celebrities had not yet answered Politifact&rsquo;s inquiries.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, a judge blocked the Trump administration&rsquo;s attempt to place 2,200 USAID employees on leave, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/judge-blocks-trump-from-placing-2200-usaid-workers-leave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;USAID is driving the radical left crazy, and there is nothing they can do about it because the way in which the money has been spent, so much of it fraudulently, is totally unexplainable,&rdquo; President Donald Trump wrote in all caps on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/113963085497636545\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The corruption is at levels rarely seen before. Close it down!&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/david-hogg-shows-little-knows-apparent-demand-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump<\/a> wrote Friday.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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An AI-narrated video on X listed several celebrities who supposedly received millions from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for their visits, falsely claiming Stiller was paid $4 million in 2022. The &#8220;Zoolander&#8221; star quickly dismissed these claims, stating, &#8220;These are lies coming from Russian media,&#8221; and emphasized that he fully self-funded his humanitarian trip without any USAID support or payment of any kind. He labeled the accusations as &#8220;100 percent false.&#8221; It remains unclear how he concluded that Russian media was behind the video, and he has since disabled comments on his post. The report also mentioned other celebrities allegedly compensated by USAID: Angelina Jolie ($20 million), Sean Penn ($5 million), Jean-Claude Van Damme ($1.5 million), and Orlando Bloom ($8 million). According to the report, these payments aimed to boost Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky&#8217;s popularity; however, a community note clarified that E! News did not publish this information and pointed out discrepancies in the video&#8217;s formatting and spelling errors regarding Van Damme&#8217;s name. While it&#8217;s uncertain if there is any truth to these claims, it is confirmed that all mentioned celebrities visited Ukraine according to sources like Newsweek and Firstpost. Politifact reached out for comments from those listed; Sean Penn\u2019s lawyer stated that USAID funding was never used for Penn\u2019s travel as he self-funded it himself, while responses from other celebrities were still pending at the time of reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2400709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stiller.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[43581,36238,50082,6991,16381],"class_list":["post-2400708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ben-stiller","tag-celebrity-news","tag-russian-media","tag-ukraine","tag-usaid"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stiller.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2400708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2400712,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400708\/revisions\/2400712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2400708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2400708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2400708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}