FireAid


FireAid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative that took place in Inglewood, California, United States, on January 30, 2025. The event, organized by the Annenberg Foundation, raised funds to help those affected by the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, as well as funds to help prevent future wildfires in the area.
Several of the people involved in the production of the event were directly affected by the fires, including producer Tim Sexton, lead mixing engineer Bob Clearmountain, and technical director Eric Becker.

Performers

Most of the performers at the event had some connection to the Greater Los Angeles area.
The concert ran for six hours. Setlist:

Intuit Dome

Additional appearances included Samuel L. Jackson, Quinta Brunson, and Miles Teller, who each introduced locals who lost their homes in the wildfires, and Jimmy Kimmel.

Kia Forum

Additional appearances included Billy Crystal, who lost his home in the Palisades Fire.
Dave Matthews was originally scheduled to perform with John Mayer but canceled due to a family illness.

Fundraising

The Annenberg Foundation will distribute contributions to FireAid, whose organizers set up a 501 for the purpose. Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie pledged to match all donations made during the live event. The Ballmers' offer was later extended to match donations made during streams for the next year. During his segment, Billy Crystal noted that band U2 pledged $1 million.
, organizers estimated that proceeds from donations, sales, and sponsorships are expected to exceed $100 million.

Online streaming partners

Following the event, streaming partners extended on-demand access to the broadcast for a full year. The concert was broadcast live on many different streaming platforms and radio stations around the world including:

Video streaming platforms

Six months after the concert was held, some victims of the fires told the media that they had not received any money from the concert organizers. The Annenberg Foundation responded:
On July 31, 2025, Representative Kevin Kiley posted on X about this issue and requested the Department of Justice to investigate. In response, FireAid hired a law firm, Latham & Watkins to go over the funds sent.
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-01-06-fireaid-report.pdf
Recipient / ProjectGoalAmount
California Native Vote Project Voter participation efforts for Native Americans$100,000
Various political advocacy groups Political advocacy and related activities$550,000
Community Organized Relief Efforts and similar programsSupport for priority groups including undocumented immigrants At least $250,000
Podcast programming initiativesFunding for podcasters and entertainment/media projects$100,000
Various nonprofits' administrative costsSalaries, bonuses, consultant fees, and staff compensationMore than $500,000
Fungus-planting and other unrelated projectsEnvironmental or symbolic recovery efforts not directly tied to victim reliefNot specified