Josh Gad Announces He Will Donate A Portion of Memoir Proceeds to Wildfire Victims: ‘Anything Helps Right Now’

Josh Gad is giving back to the Los Angeles community impacted by the ongoing wildfires.

The Frozen star, 43 — who came out with his new memoir In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some on Tuesday, Jan. 14 — reflected on the timing of his book release amid the devastating L.A. fires, which have killed at least two dozen people and left thousands without a home.

“I wish it was a celebratory day,” Gad said on The Today Show. “It’s been super tough. I just got in from Los Angeles. It is worse than I think is even imaginable.”

“We personally know 15 families who have lost their homes, lost their schools, lost their neighborhoods. It’s tough,” he continued. “I’m thrilled I get to share this book with the world finally, but I feel like I’m doing it during a really difficult period.”

Gad added that he is planning to donate a portion of the proceeds from his book to several different organizations helping those in need in L.A., including the SoCal Fire Fund, Best Friends Animal Society (an organization that helps displaced pets) and Baby2Baby. 

“I would encourage all of you, if you have a chance, to go onto my Instagram: I’ve posted links for where you can donate, even $10, anything helps right now,” Gad said. “There’s so many people, animals [and] babies affected by this tragedy.”

The Today hosts went on to read feedback on his memoir from other famous stars, including Adam Sandler and Billy Crystal, who wrote that the Wolf Like Me actor’s story was “a remarkable journey.” Gad himself noted that was “amazing” to have the opportunity to create “a memoir in my 40s,” which isn’t something he thought about until his “agent pitched it.” 

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“I said, ‘Do you know something I don’t know? Have you seen bloodwork? Do I have a short time left?,’” he recalled. “And he encouraged me to just open up about my life, about my experiences and that became almost therapy in front of a mirror.” 

“I started to detail my issues with anxiety — I know you guys were just talking about that — about body image,” he continued. “I know that I have a perfect body, but I’ve had issues with that over the years. A lot of the things that came to the forefront were scary to put down on paper, but ultimately, I found it therapeutic and I found the comedy of talking about it therapeutic.”

Some of the things that he touched upon in his memoir included how he found comedy in the wake of his parents’ divorce while trying to make his mother laugh, and his decision to “invest” in it as he grew older.

“I do think that for a lot of us, the reason we started being funny and laughing was the desperate need to be funny and laugh,” Gad said. “It was the solution to a problem. And for me, my problem was a lot of sadness early on. I combatted that with food, I combatted that with humor. I combatted that by coming on The Today Show multiple times to talk about it.”

He also noted that his past experiences detailed in the book — especially his relationship with his father — also transformed the way he interacts with his daughters Isabella Eve, 10, and Ava Tanya, 13, whom he shares with wife Ida Darvish.

“What I do with them is I give them the opportunity to be as open with me as possible,” he said.  “I want them to talk to me. So a lot of times I’ll talk taboo issues.” 

“One day I talked to my daughter because my wife was like, ‘She’s starting to hear about sex from school and I’m worried.’ And I took it upon myself to be like, ‘Hey, sweetheart, I’m here for you. Is there anything you want to talk about?’ And she goes, ‘Oh, that is the most awful thing I’ve ev….no! I don’t want to talk to you about any of it.’ And I was like, ‘Understood, I’ll see myself out now,’ ” he continued. “But I try. I want to be there when they need me.”

In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some is available now, wherever books are sold.