Ariel Winter defends asking fans to donate to cousin's medical costs

The Modern Family star reportedly makes more than $100,000 an episode

Ariel Winter defends asking fans for help covering cousin's medical costs (Getty)

Ariel Winter is facing backlash for asking fans to help contribute to medical costs for her cousin, who has been hospitalised with Haemophilus Influenzae.

The Modern Family star shared the request on Twitter with a link to a GoFundMe account and wrote: “This is my cousin Tino. If you can, please consider donating to his recovery fund. Anything helps. I love him so much.”

In another tweet, the actress shared pictures of her and her cousin and again linked to the crowdfunding site.

According to the GoFundMe page, Tino was put on life-support while battling the illness, a type of bacteria that can “cause many different kinds of infections” ranging from pneumonia to meningitis.

While some fans expressed their support for the star and said they would donate to the $15,000 goal, others questioned why Winter wasn’t covering the cost herself.

“Surely you’re able to throw some if not all of the $15k in,” one person wrote.

Another said: “I love when people who are in the one per cent ask us to donate. His 15k goal compared to what you make seems so small. Why not pick up the tab.”

In response to another comment, which questioned why Winter would ask her fans for help when she has the money, Winter defended herself.

“Thanks for your sh**ty response to my sick cousin,” she wrote. “What makes you think I’m not? Love assumptions! BTW - if someone isn’t able to donate, then I absolutely wouldn’t want them to.

“His friend created the GoFundMe so I will of course share for my cousin like anyone else would.”

The 21-year-old then went on to say her family will “do everything we can for him” outside of crowdfunding and that “criticising someone when a family member is ill or has suffered a tragedy is horrible” and denied someone’s claim that her net worth is $12m and that she makes "250-500k" per episode.

“Neither of those things are true facts,” she replied.

The actress addressed the backlash again in another tweet, in which she said the “hate tweets” were “hurtful” when she’d expected messages of “love and support”.

As a cast member of Modern Family, which is currently in its 10th season, Winter makes at least $100,000 an episode, according to Forbes.