So, has Mary Ann's "Friend", who is running the GoFundMe page, been sufficiently vetted?
I see that there is a Mary Ann Facebook page acknowledging him, but who says that he doesn't control the FB page?
Seems like, potentially, an easy way to get a quick 100K for a clever scammer.
Nostalgia + Cuteness + A "Chance" to Personally Help could combine to have the making of a really good con.
Just sayin'.
-gauss
Wondering that too. Back in July, she talks on FB about an injury hospitalizing her, and doing PT. No mention of surgery that I saw. Didn't sound life-threatening. Maybe there was another incident earlier that racked up a big bill.
A few other FB posts after that, mostly posting old photos and reminiscing. A Happy Labor Day post.
The gofundme page talks about taxes owed and IRS penalties adding up and losing everything in the 2008 downturn, "like many of us did".
If it's legit, it still just sounds like money mismanagement or poor investing, under-reporting income to the IRS and getting nailed for it, and having some medical bills. Supposedly she inherited a lot from Natalie Schaefer ("Lovey" on Gilligan's Island) years before. There were also some reports that her husband back in the 60s negotiated royalties on re-runs, which no other cast member had, but that's widely disputed.
In any case, if people want to give $20 or $100, maybe she kind of deserves something for how like GI entertained people. I'm not contributing, but it kind of sounds nice.
If it's a total scam, that really sucks. One would hope that one of the many news services reporting this has done some checking and talked with her directly. And hopefully it's not a partial scam, where "Dugg" does help her, somewhat, and pockets half the money.
