Actress Alyssa Milano sparked backlash when she asked her social media followers to donate to her 12-year-old son’s baseball team.
“My son’s baseball team is raising money for their Cooperstown trip. Any amount would be so greatly appreciated,” Milano, 51, wrote via X on Thursday, January 25. “You can read more about the team and make a donation here.”
The Charmed alum included a link to a GoFundMe page that she started on behalf of her husband, David Bugliari.
“We hope you will make a donation to keep our team competitive. Your donation will go to travel costs, uniforms and dues for families,” a message on the GoFundMe read, noting the team is seeking to raise $10,000. “We also might use your donations for pins or novelty items to make our tournaments memorable experiences beyond the field.”
Many social media users slammed Milano for soliciting money to support her son’s baseball team instead of funding the program herself. Milano has since defended herself. Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
“I’m getting media inquiries about whether I have financially contributed to my son’s baseball team,” she wrote via X on Friday, January 26. “I’ve paid for uniforms for the entire team and coaches, thrown bday parties and sponsor any kid who can’t afford monthly dues.”
She continued: “The kids also do fundraising themselves — car washes, movie nights and many other fun things. Thank you to all who have contributed to the GoFundMe! You’ve made things easier for these boys and their families.”
Milano and Bugliari, 43, share son Milo and daughter Elizabella, 8. She previously spoke to Us about the ups and downs of being a parent.
“I think it’s raising kids that are socially aware and conscious,” she exclusively told Us in 2018. “But still have childhoods and aren’t completely terrified from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep like their mother.”
Milano continued at the time, “The heartache that you feel as a parent is like nothing you’ve ever — it’s like shattering your DNA. It’s like [a] debilitating heartbreak. And it can be about the oddest things. Just like watching my son’s jaw square out. I’m not kidding. Like, all of a sudden, I’m looking at his neck and it’s starting to get like [a] little boy and not a baby, and the hair on the back of it’s getting coarse, it’s just all very upsetting.”
