Lady Gaga’s dad Joe Germanotta, the owner of the New York City restaurant Joanne Trattoria, asked the public to help support his staff amid the current health crisis.
A GoFundMe page was set up to raise $50,000 to support the staff of the restaurant after 30 employees were laid off. Joe tweeted the link to the page and said, “I’m doing the best I can but we had to close Joanne for the month. Our staff needs some help financial. Any help for our employees will be appreciated.”
The ask was immediately met with criticism online. The tweet has since been deleted and the GoFundMe page has been deactivated.
Before being removed, the GoFundMe page read, “As our doors remain closed longer than anticipated, our staff is finding it increasingly difficult to finance the daily necessities to keep them healthy, like groceries and insurance costs – to say nothing of rent, utilities, and other recurring bills.
“Our goal of $50,000 would cover our typical payroll for approximately 2 weeks, and 100% of the profits would go to our hourly workers to provide those necessary items like food, childcare, and medical expenses.”
Critics immediately noted that his Oscar-winning offspring should be the one he should turn to for help. The singer earned $39.5 million in 2019, according to Forbes.
The MTA recently sought to evict Grand Central’s ArtBird and Whiskey Bar – also owned by Germanotta after giving him two weeks from February 27th to pay $260,000 in rent and fees.
