George Floyd’s siblings demand accounting of $19 million GoFundMe raised after his death
TheGrio...
Three of George Floyd’s siblings are demanding a full accounting of the roughly $19 million GoFundMe raised after his 2020 death.
Six years after George Floyd’s death produced one of the largest crowdfunding efforts in the platform’s history, members of his family say they still don’t know where the money went.
TMZ obtained a letter sent Aug. 11 by a Houston attorney representing three of Floyd’s siblings, sisters Zsazsa and LaTonya and brother Rodney, to their brother Philonise Floyd. The letter requests a complete accounting of the George Floyd Memorial GoFundMe campaign, which the document states raised roughly $19 million.
The siblings assert they are among Floyd’s heirs and therefore entitled to a portion of those funds, maintaining they have not received what they consider a fair share. Their request covers GoFundMe reports, statements and transaction histories, along with tax filings and related financial records.
They gave Philonise 20 days from receipt to produce the documents, with their attorney expressing hope the matter could be resolved without escalation.
According to the letter, this is not a first attempt. The siblings say they have asked repeatedly for records and an explanation of how the money was managed and distributed without receiving documentation. They also told TMZ they reached out to attorney Ben Crump seeking answers and got no response.
Rodney Floyd framed the request as procedural rather than accusatory. “We want to see the records, understand how decisions were made, and make sure the family’s questions are answered,” he told the outlet. “We’re speaking up because transparency matters.”
The fundraiser’s scale explains why the stakes are what they are. Within roughly a week of launching in 2020, it had drawn nearly $13 million from close to 500,000 individual donations, setting a GoFundMe record at the time as protests spread across the country and internationally.
That volume reflected something specific about the moment. Donors giving twenty or fifty dollars were responding to a video most of them had watched, and the money functioned as a form of participation for people who couldn’t march. Campaigns that grow that fast rarely arrive with the governance structures large sums usually require, which is often where disputes like this one originate.
Philonise said publicly at the time that the funds would go toward funeral and burial costs, counseling, travel tied to court proceedings and other family needs, with a portion directed to Floyd’s estate to support his children and their education.
Whether those commitments were met is precisely what the siblings say they cannot currently verify. Nothing in the letter accuses Philonise of misusing anything. What it asks for is documentation, and the siblings’ position is that six years of requests should have produced some by now.