Love Is Blind Matt Barnett found himself under fire this week…
On Friday, the former reality star — who married Amber Pike during the first season of the Netflix reality show — took to Instagram to share with followers that his beloved dog, Bandit, had to undergo emergency surgery for a gallbladder torsion. Oh no! He wrote alongside videos of the pup:
“On Saturday, I was on a flight for work when I received a devastating text message: ‘Bandit has gallbladder torsion and needs emergency surgery, or we have to put him to sleep. I immediately started asking questions about how much time we would have with him and what his quality of life would be. In full tears on the flight, I questioned whether I was being selfish to say do the surgery because I wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye.”
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Before Matt could decide whether to “let him go,” his parents offered to pay for the procedure on their credit card. Bandit ended up having the surgery the following day on July 14. However, the life-saving procedure and veterinary hospital stay have become “an extreme financial burden” on his parents. So now, they are asking for followers to donate to a GoFundMe for the doggo’s needs. Matt concluded:
“[My wife] Amber [Pike] and I really want to help them as much as possible. I hate even the thought of asking for help, but this one hurts, and anything would be helpful.”
See the post (below):
While many people were sympathetic and sent their love to Barnett, other social media users weren’t as kind. Many slammed the television personality for asking for money when he is someone in the spotlight:
“I work a regular job and had to dish out $7k when my dog was sick and needed to be in the hospital. I didn’t think for once to set up a GoFundMe, I just put it on my credit card because she was my dog and my responsibility. It’s just part of being a pet owner.”
“‘Normal’ people can’t even afford to live and celebrities are out here asking for money on social media????? Sorry about your pup, but holy Christ”
“Y’all can travel all the time and you make money from ads and social media but you can’t pay them back? People are struggling to pay rent and food rn. Crazy as hell”
“This is in bad taste and you should remove this. If you want to help your parents then you should but don’t ask for money from others who are less fortunate than you.”
“So you can’t pay them back?? But you’re asking for other people to pay them back??”
“Reality stars asking for money when “normal” humans pay vet bills on their own. Unreal.”
Oof…
Matt did have some defenders in the comments, though! They called out the harsh response to his request, saying:
“To the negative commenters out there, let’s use some critical thinking skills before typing the first thought that comes to mind. Do you really think someone would post asking for help with their dog if they could truly cover it themselves? It be way easier to pay the bill and avoid all the judgments that come from social media. Either help or keep scrolling, good grief.”
“The amount of disgusting comments on here like bffr they haven’t been on tv for YEARS now. Just because he has a “platform” that doesn’t mean he actually makes any income from it and REGARDLESS it’s for a doggie like yall bffr if you not gonna donate why waste time from your day commenting negativity scroll right on by.”
“They’re asking for help, if you don’t have anything nice to say then move along. Seriously. Just because they were on a show doesn’t mean they’re millionaire.. times are tough.”
“Y’all do realize before love is blind everyone on that show was just normal people who lead normal lives. And not everyone from season 1 found a lot of fame or endorsements like other cast members did. Either donate or keep scrolling.”
But once Matt noticed the online criticism, he wasted no time in addressing it! Hours later, he promised in the comments that he “wouldn’t ask for help if” he didn’t need it:
“Thank you everyone who is donating. It really means a lot to me and my family. I promise that I wouldn’t ask for help if it wasn’t needed. I do have a platform, and most people who are in need don’t, so any money raised that goes above the cost to take care of my dog, I will forward to others that need it. I have been struggling all week with this and I hope some of you with negative comments can show a little bit of grace.”
Our hears go out to Matt and Amber during this difficult time. What are your thoughts on the GoFundMe drama, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments below!
[Image via Love Is Blind/Netflix, Matt Barnett/Instagram]
