Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey hosted a virtual fundraising concert Sunday to benefit victims harmed by the February snowstorm in Texas, where the state’s power grid failed, as the A-list celebrity flirts with a possible bid for governor.
The lineup, hosted on McConaughey’s YouTube channel and titled, “We’re Texas: Giddy Up To Give Back,” featured more than a dozen Texan stars including Willie Nelson and Khalid, in addition to Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Gary Clark Jr., Don Henley, Kirk Franklin, Leon Bridges, Lukas Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Charlie Sexton, Clint Black, Los Lonely Boys, Parker McCollum, and Randy Rogers. The event also saw appearances by Kelly Clarkson and Post Malone.
All proceeds from the online fundraiser went to the Just Keep Livin’ Texas Relief Fund.
“We’re the ‘Lone Star State’ and our own spirit will always just keep livin’,” McConaughey said at the concert’s opening.
McConaughey, 51, hosted the fundraiser as a prelude to a potential bid for governor next year.
“I want to get into a leadership role in the next chapter of my life,” McConaughey told the Today Show earlier this month, telling NBC he’s considering a run for the Texas governor’s mansion. “What role am I gonna be useful in? I don’t know that that’s in a political position, or if that’s me as a free agent. It might be me as a free agent, so that’s something I’m personally working on is what is my position of most use in a leadership role.”
McConaughey began publicly flirting an idea for governor last fall, and went on Joe Rogan’s podcast in October. The actor’s political ideas remain relatively unclear, although he has denounced cancel culture, the left’s movement to defund the police, and the arrogance of Hollywood elite.
The state’s incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is running for a third term.
