Famous People Accused of Being Uncharitable
One semi-recent piece to make the news in charity shaming was an alleged callout by Bob Geldof against Adele for failing to take part in Live Aid 30 for ebola. In reality, it looks like there was more smoke than actual fire. The concept of charity shaming for a cause may be fairly new in the social media world but it actually goes back centuries, and rests in our inherent competitive need to accuse our fellows of having a failing somewhere.
Although there has always been a certain initiative associated with being seen making a donation (which is counterintuitive for most churchgoers who are advised by their top religious figure to make sure you donate in secret) the idea of pointing out the thriftier members of the community has become something of a sport. Thanks to social media outlets and gossip sites that twist every offhand statement into a "snub" or a "feud," there are accusations that celebrity 1 is accusing celebrity 2 of being uncharitable, and this causes celebrity 2 to make a sizeable donation to a cause. The flipside of social media phenomena like the "Ice Bucket Challenge" for ALS research is that there was an insinuation that you don't care about Stephen Hawking if you didn't either make a donation or put yourself at risk of hypothermia and a bucket-related injury to the back of your neck.
Social Justice Is Not New
A notable case of such shaming goes back to the early 1900s when famous people were outed in the newspaper based on how much they gave to certain causes. Lists were published in newspapers showing how much some tycoons were giving based on publically available data. This, like today, is a case where poor research or anonymous donations can make a wealthy person look like an uncaring miser.
Evolution of Philanthro-Shaming
"Philanthro-shaming" has evolved somewhat, and now the likes of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are encouraging their fellow plutocrats to donate half of their fortunes instead of passing them on to the heirs. In San Francisco, Marc Beninoff is calling out his fellow tech billionaires to be more philanthropic, which is all well and good in a place where a better solution might be finding a more affordable housing option for you own employees.