Ellen DeGeneres donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe for her late producer Matthew Wright, who died unexpectedly at 52 while working remotely in Los Angeles on October 30th. The GoFundMe, which sought $50,000 to cover funeral costs, bringing Wright's body back to New York, arranging a memorial in Los Angeles and establishing a trust for his niece, noted that both Wright and his husband Justin were laid off over the summer, making the unexpected expenses impossible for the family to bear. DeGeneres announced Wright's death on November 2nd via an emotional Instagram video, remembering him as "funny, smart, and kind" and "the glue to our entire family at the Ellen show." She revealed they had been planning to work together on a new project before his sudden death. The $5,000 contribution from DeGeneres toward the campaign's $50,000 goal drew criticism from social media users who questioned why the talk show host, whose net worth is estimated in the hundreds of millions, did not give a larger amount. Some users asked why Wright needed a GoFundMe at all given DeGeneres' financial status. DeGeneres has not publicly responded to the criticism. Wright's family described his death as an "unfathomable tragedy" and have not publicly disclosed a cause of death. The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ran for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022, was rocked by scandal in 2020 when former employees accused the host of creating a toxic work environment. Wright worked on the show for 16 years starting in 2006.