'Breaking Bad' Star Aaron Paul Raises Nearly $2 Million For Charity
Aaron Paul giving away tickets to his event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
While "Breaking Bad" was ending its series run on AMC, actor Aaron Paul threw a party and screening of the finale at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to send the show off in style.
Paul then partnered with fundraising site Omaze.com to give fans the chance to win a trip to the finale while helping to raise money for his wife's anti-bullying nonprofit, The Kind Campaign.
Throughout the time of the contest, Omaze predicted they would raise around $750,000 for the contest.
Paul helped up the ante by encouraging fans to donate on social media, promising a list of ten things he and fans would do together before the finale including TP'ing Bryan Cranston's home and acting out any scene from "Breaking Bad."
During the final 48 hours of the contest, fans donated another $1 million to the cause.
The contest ended up adding 15 more winners after Omaze found a glitch in the drawing leaving out about two dozen entries.
In total, Paul helped raise nearly $1.8 million for The Kind Campaign through Omaze.
Paul's fundraiser was by far the largest amount of money Omaze has helped raise since its creation.
Omaze co-founders Ryan Cummins tells Business Insider the reason both he and Matt Pholson started Omaze was in order to help raise three to five time their charity partners at auction.
"To have Aaron's experience raise nearly $1.8M, when it would have likely raised around $50K at auction - is incredibly exciting," says Cummins.
"It's just another testament that if you give people access and tools to support causes — whether through a cause like this or a creative endeavor like on Kickstarter — they will consistently prove to be generous and giving," added Pohlson.
Earlier this year, Bryan Cranston held a fundraiser through Omaze for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) raising $303,000.
Together, the two stars have raised a combined $2.1 million for charity during the last leg of their AMC series .
Those who donated to the contest received any number of prizes depending on their donation ranging from recorded messages from Paul to "Breaking Bad" hazmat suits.
The grand prize winner of the contest was Ryan Carroll from Fort Myers, Florida.
Here's Paul with the contest's second winner, Joseph LeBlanc (right), and his father.
Omaze
Omaze
The actor surprised the two inside the hotel they were staying at instead.
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