FireAid Benefit Concert

Green Day everybody.

- Billie Eilish. - Billie Joe.

Thank you.

Los Angeles.

We are still alive.

This is California. And we are all in this together.

From the bottom of our hearts, we love you, Los Angeles,

and we got your back no matter what.

- Let's go. -

Los Angeles Get your hands up in the air.

Yeah!

We're here for you!

Get your hands up

Sing it.

Sing it.

Hey everybody get your hands up in the air.

California.

Los Angeles.

Altadena.

The Palisades we are in this together.

Hi everybody, I'm Billy Crystal.

Hello L.A.

and everybody watching around the world, watching us.

Welcome to FireAid. We are gathered here at the Kia Forum,

which is Steve Ballmer's guesthouse.

And later we will be over at the fantastic Intuit Dome.

Our goal is simple tonight, to raise more money

than the Dodgers spent on free agents.

Now, all kidding aside, when you donate to

Steve Ballmer and his wonderful wife Connie will match it dollar for dollar.

And...

And just as I was walking on stage, I got word that our first big donation

of the night has come in.

It's from this band called U2.

And it's for one million dollars.

Which really means two million dollars, thanks to Connie and Steve.

And at home, you too can help us by calling in.

We have an amazing evening of dozens of incredible performers

coming together to help those in need.

And also, you'll be hearing from a number of people who were

tragically affected by these fires.

And I am one of them.

We love you Billy!

These... Shh.

These were the clothes I wore when I fled my house with my wife Janice,

like so many of us did on January 7th.

It was all I had. Wore it for a week, plus an N95 mask.

I looked like an evacuee or someone who had just robbed a 7 Eleven.

But everybody's been so supportive.

This young girl, she must have been 20, came up to me,

and said she understood my pain because she had lost TikTok for a day.

Everybody has a thing.

I wanted to be here tonight because a little over 23 years ago,

and just a month after 9 11, I was asked to welcome the audience to the concert

for New York at Madison Square Garden.

With...

With Ground Zero still smoldering, I walked out to a grieving audience,

holding up signs with pictures of their loved ones on them, asking,

Have you seen them?

It was all I could do to get my first words out.

And tonight, here I am, talking to all of you in pain.

But now, I'm also one of the hurting thousands,

asking, Have you seen my school?

Have you seen my church? Have you seen my house?

Have you seen my town?

Have you seen the 29 people who lost their lives?

Have you seen them?

On that night in 2001, we were mourning the loss of hundreds of firefighters

and police officers and first responders.

Tonight, we are here together to thank them,

and all those who run towards danger, while we run to shelter and safety.

When...

When...

When we were finally able to get back to our house in the Palisades, which we

had lived in for 46 years, like thousands of you, our house now looked like this.

I stepped onto the grounds, and I fell to my knees, and I wailed.

I had not cried like that since I was 15 years old, and I was told

that my father had just died.

I remember looking in the mirror back then,

with my whole life ahead of me, thinking,

What is my life going to be like without him?

Now, folks, I'm 76 years old, without a mirror,

and a lot less life to ponder, thinking,

What is my life going to be like without our home?

And then I heard screams from my daughters,

Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad.

And my girls, Jenny and Lindsay, brought over this rock from a burnt out garden.

Years ago, I bought these rocks with one word engraved in them,

and placed them around our gardens.

They were welcome, patience, dream,

and the one I held in my hands, laughter.

I learned about the power of laughter back in 1963.

In our shiver house, sitting alone, sad little guy, I heard big laughs coming

from the family in our modest living room, and I came down the hall to see my dear

Uncle Burn in the midst of his sorrow, telling stories, and doing magic tricks,

and making the entire family laugh.

And it changed my life.

I knew at that moment, even in your worst pain, folks, it's okay.

And it's important to laugh. And I dedicated...