Celebrities take on the Flint water crisis

Caitlin Dickson
·Editor

While Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both spoken out about the water contamination crisis in Flint, Mich., their Republican counterparts have stayed notably silent on the subject.

In fact, on Tuesday Michigan native Ben Carson became the first GOP candidate to weigh in on the crisis, which has recently prompted a federal emergency response.

TIMELINE: How the people of Flint ended up with contaminated water

"Unfortunately, the leaders of Flint have failed to place the well-being of their residents as a top priority," Carson said in a statement to the Huffington Post. "The people deserve better from their local elected officials, but the federal bureaucracy is not innocent in this as well. Reports show that the Environmental Protection Agency knew well-beforehand about the lack of corrosion controls in the city’s water supply, but was either unwilling or unable to address the issue."

Carson’s fellow Republicans might not want to talk about the situation in Flint — or even take the time to learn about it, as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio admitted to reporters Monday — but plenty of celebrities have been coming out in full force to condemn the actions of state and local officials that created this crisis and show support for the people of Flint.

The convoluted web of bureaucratic decisions and corner cutting that led to the pumping of contaminated river water into the homes, schools and business of Flint’s largely African-American and largely impoverished residents, sounds like the storyline of an "Erin Brockovich"-type movie.

SLIDESHOW: The Flint water crisis

So it comes as no surprise that the real Erin Brockovich, still a legal clerk and environmental activist, has been especially vocal, on TV as well as social media.

On Wednesday, Brockovich joined iconic pop singer Cher on MSNBC to discuss the situation.

Cher has also recently used Twitter to expressed her outrage over the Flint crisis and, over the weekend, she teamed up with the Icelandic Glacial water company to donate more than 180,000 bottles of water to the people of Flint, who’ve had contaminated river water coming out of their faucets for nearly two years.

The crisis hits particularly close to home for famous Flint natives like Sandra Bernhard and filmmaker Michael Moore. Moore has been urging President Obama to visit Flint and has garnered 123,745 signatures for an online petition, which also calls for Gov. Rick Snyder’s arrest.

Celebs from other parts of the Wolverine state, like Magic Johnson and Detroit rapper Big Sean, are equally as riled up.

Several other rappers have used their social media platforms to raise awareness about Flint, including Young Jeezy and P. Diddy.

Notorious rap instigator Meek Mill even managed to use his current beef with 50 Cent for good, pledging to donate $50,000 to bring clean water to Flint, and challenging 50 Cent and other rappers to do the same.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan and actor Mark Ruffalo, both also native Midwesterners, are among the other celebrities demanding action in Michigan.