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After Washington Capitals public address announcer Wes Johnson was hospitalized with a medical emergency, the team shared a crowdfunding page set up by Johnson’s family through its official social media channel. Fans were outraged.
“The Washington Capitals express our heartfelt thoughts and send our best wishes to our beloved public address announcer, Wes Johnson,” the team posted. Please visit the GoFundMe page established by the Johnson family for additional support at http://washca.ps/3PUamRA.” The post was shared with more than 800,000 followers on X/Twitter and has received more than 2,000 likes.
The GoFundMe page asks for donations to help the beloved 25-year Capitals employee’s “family get through this period and cover his medical expenses as well as cover the time he will be unable to work.”
As of Tuesday, the GoFundMe page has raised more than $155,000, far surpassing its $50,000 goal. Ted Leonsis, owner of the Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics as the head of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, gave $25,000 to the fundraiser (half of its goal), the donations log shows.
The Capitals’ social media post has been flooded with responses from fans wishing Johnson well, but many questioned why the Capitals or Leonsis—with a net worth of $3.1 billion, according to Forbes—didn’t cover all of Johnson’s expenses in the first place.
“Team owned by a billionaire, that just gave $35M to a goalie, posts a GoFundMe link for employee,” one writer posted.
“Imagine working 25 years as the voice of the Washington Capitals, you get a medical emergency & your billionaire owner has the social media team put a gofundme link on twitter,” another user said.
“Tweeting this out as a multi-billion dollar organization who just reached an agreement for the city to help pay for renovations to the arena doesn’t sit right with me. This seems like the easiest PR win ever, pay the bill Ted,” said one fan, referencing the new plans for Capital One Arena that will use at least $285 million from Monumental.
A Monumental spokesperson tells Front Office Sports that the family made the GoFundMe page on their own, and highlighted Leonsis’s “significant donation.”
“We have been in contact with the family throughout this process. We shared the post for review and approval, and they appreciated our inclusion of the GoFundMe information that the family set up for further awareness,” the spokesperson says.
Johnson, 62, is known by Capitals fans for his call to “unleash the fury,” and has done voice acting and appearances for a number of shows, video games, and films.
