Tyler Perry Donates $1 Million Towards Harvey Relief, And Defends Joel Osteen

Embed from Getty ImagesHipHollywood reports Tyler Perry joined a growing list of celebrities giving huge amounts of money to help Hurricane Harvey victims. Last Thursday (August 31, 2017) the famous playwright/director/actor, announced that he was donating $1 million to help with relief efforts. Reportedly the money will be divided between four different organizations. Each entity will get a $250k donation from Perry, to support and continue the relief efforts of their charities. Beyonce's pastor, Bread of Life founder Rudy Rasmus, and megachurch televangelist Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen has been getting dragged all over social media, because he didn't open his 16,000 seat, Lakewood church, to Houston citizens seeking refuge from Harvey's rising flood waters.  Osteen insists the accusations are completely false, and adamantly denies he turned people away during the storm. Hurricane Harvey has devastated the Southeast and Eastern portions of Texas. The storm flooded 30% of Houston, and catastrophic damage to smaller cities like Nome, Port Arthur, Dickerson, Bay Town and Beaumont. Emotions are running high. Since Harvey dropped record levels of rain, leaving thousands homeless. As Harvey beared down on Houston, it didn't take long for chatter to crank up about Osteen's church being closed. People started to question why the megachurch sat empty. One angry post led to another, and next thing he knew, the famous Houston pastor was being ripped to shreds all over social media. 

The Houston televangelist was stunned by the widespread outrage, and went into immediate damage control in an effort to silence the naysayers. Osteen interviewed with every major news outlet, trying to explain. Members of the Lakewood congregation also pushed back, and took to social media to try and explain what happened.

What do YOU think? Was Osteen being shady, or cautious? Give us your thoughts below.