Who is Milana Vayntrub? Ex-AT&T commercial star raises $500,000 for Los Angeles fire victims by selling exclusive photos

Former AT&T commercial star Milana Vayntrub, who had earlier been subject to online harassment, has managed to raise over $500,000 to directly help people by selling intimate photos of herself on the internet.

Vayntrub, who has her own platform Only Philanthropy, announced the success of her endeavour on Instagram, writing, "We’ve raised over half a million dollars together this year. Now let’s grow this into something bigger, stranger, more powerful, with more creators jumping in."

"I had this full on crazy idea for an experiment," explained Vayntrub, writing how she came upon the "ridiculous" idea to help people affected by the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.

Raising over $500,000

Seeing that people were in need of cash after the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, she decided to offer exclusive photos in exchange for donations to a single mom's GoFundMe page.

"You showed up. We raised $170,000," wrote Vayntrub, adding that the amount was raised in just four days.

The proceeds from her sales went to a woman named Bridget, who was able to replace essentials like medical equipment, clothing, and secure housing for a year.

Using the funds Vayntrub helped raise, Bridget was also able to replace her vehicle and provide stability to her older kids.

"It was the first time in a long time I felt seen. Like someone actually cared that we were still here, still fighting," the single mother was quoted as saying on Vayntrub's Only Philanthropy platform.

But the former AT&T employee did not stop there: "This summer we did it again and raised over $350k in a week," she wrote.

This time, she helped raise funds for Atladena-based My Tribe Rise, an organisation helping the elderly, disabled, and under-insured survivors of the Eaton Fire rebuild their lives.

The organization turned the funds raised by Vayntrub into direct grants for fire survivors.

Who is Milana Vayntrub?

Milana Vayntrub at one time was an aspiring actress, before she built a career for herself in the advertisement industry, as per The New York Times.

In 2013, the then-26-year-old actress landed the role of Lily for a national commercial, with the ad showing a brunette and her mildly comical interactions with strangers at an AT&T store.

The advertisement campaign ran for about three years, making Vayntrub a known face to television audiences.

The campaign ended in 2017, at which time Vayntrub stopped acting and instead took to directing commercials.

However, during the Covid lockdowns, Vayntrub and a colleague proposed resurrecting Lily, and AT&T approved, with the Vayntrub herself directing spots showing Lily working from home.

A few months after Lily came back to people's screens, Vayntrub was suddenly facing lecherous comments on the internet.

The malevolent reception to Lily's second stint was sparked by some accounts on the internet who called Vayntrub names in reference to her breasts.

Before long, people started spamming the comment sections of AT&T's social media posts with lewd descriptions and emojis of glasses of milk, and this harassment soon spilled over into Vayntrub's personal life.

Not only were her social media accounts targeted, but her personal photos were widely distributed across the internet, and spammy websites even promised access to pornographic videos featuring her, videos that did not exist.

Only Philanthropy

Vayntrub has come some ways since then, and her new platform Only Philanthropy boldly declares, "Using the male gaze to fight the blaze"

Launched recently, presumably after the success of her two campaigns, Only Philanthropy calls upon women to mobilize their audiences into "powerful, purpose-driven communities".

"We’ve now proven the model: influence and creativity can transform followers into donors and fandom into a force for good," the Only Philanthropy page reads.

Vayntrub's platform now says that she is looking to expand partnerships to support organizations working to reform the justice system, eliminate homelessness, promote LGBTQ+ rights and climate resilience, among others.