She Wanted to Help Australia's Fire Victims. Out Came the Nudes

The "Naked Philanthropist" will be sending out a lot of nude photos after she says she raised $700,000 for victims of Australia's bushfires. Los Angeles model Kaylen Ward urged Twitter followers Friday to donate to groups such as the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Victoria Country Fire Authority, and Red Cross, with a vow that confirmation of "every $10 you donate = one nude picture from me to your DM." The 20-year-old, who already sells nude pics online, was soon flooded with responses. "I was expecting to raise maybe $1,000, but the tweet blew up," she tells BuzzFeed. In another tweet, she estimated $700,000 had been raised by Sunday. "Not all heroes wear capes, some wear nothing at all," one user wrote, per the New Zealand Herald, which put the funds raised closer to $500,000. Another said Ward was "literally doing more for Australia than their own prime minister."

Ward understands more than most what it's like to flee a deadly fire, having escaped to a houseboat for days in the summer of 2018 amid the Carr Fire in California. "I got to see firsthand how many people were affected," she tells BuzzFeed, which notes some of her neighbors lost homes. With the "devastating" Australia fires, "I was really concerned there wasn't a lot of media coverage and not a lot of people donating." But the fundraiser means Ward is now suffering herself. After noting that "my family disowned me, and the guy I like won't talk to me," Ward suggested Monday people were illegally sharing her pics. "You guys have made the internet such a dark place for me," wrote the model, whose Instagram account was also deactivated. "Think about how the s--- you do affects me. Now think about millions of people doing things to me all at once," she added. "Leave me ALONE." (More nude photos stories.)