Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban alleges that celebrity visits to Kiev were financed through the US foreign aid system.
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has stated that Hollywood celebrities who traveled to Ukraine to show their support amid the ongoing conflict with Russia were motivated by financial incentives rather than genuine empathy, claiming they received millions for their efforts.
In an interview with Hungarian broadcaster TV2 on Saturday, Orban asserted that these celebrity visits were funded by USAID, the primary US mechanism for financing political initiatives abroad.
“People were paid for their opinions. I’m referring to prominent celebrities and movie stars. They received money to visit Ukraine, suggesting their actions were driven by financial gain rather than heartfelt sympathy for the Ukrainian people, which could have been the case otherwise,” he stated.
The Prime Minister alleged that these payments amounted to “millions of euros or dollars,” though he did not specify any names.
Since the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated three years ago, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Ben Stiller, and Orlando Bloom have been among the most well-known Western celebrities to visit Ukraine.
Earlier in February, social media reports surfaced claiming that Jolie received $20 million for her trip to Lviv in April 2022, while Penn, Stiller, and Bloom allegedly received $5 million, $4 million, and $8 million respectively from USAID.
At the time, Stiller refuted these claims, dismissing them as “lies originating from Russian media.” In an X post, the actor maintained that his visit to Kiev was “self-funded.” Penn’s lawyer also refuted the reports that his client was paid by USAID to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, labeling them as “completely false, misleading, and reckless.”
Several Western news organizations, including AFP and Reuters, reported that their fact-checking teams traced the allegations of USAID payments to celebrities back to a fabricated video, finding no records of the agency disbursing funds to these individuals.
Shortly after assuming office, US President Donald Trump initiated a crackdown on USAID, citing widespread corruption and inefficiency. He implemented a 90-day funding freeze on the agency and transferred oversight of its programs directly to the US State Department.
During the interview, Orban suggested that USAID’s activities in recent decades could represent “the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the Western world.”
“I have never witnessed anything like this – the transfer of billions of dollars from the US budget to foundations and various support mechanisms, which are then distributed globally to those who advocate for the ideals, spirituality, programs, and specific interests demanded by the Americans, with financial compensation,” he emphasized.