Fiona Apple has pledged to donate all the royalty earnings from her most-requested hit,” Criminal,” for the years 2019 and 2020, to While They Wait – a fund formed by the Brooklyn Defender Services, RAICES Texas, and the ACLU of Southern California, to raise funds to support the cost of living and legal fees for immigrants who have to wait nearly two years for their cases to reach immigration court.
In a Tumblr post, she wrote, “ Something I love about being a songwriter is that I get paid for usage of a song I wrote years ago whenever a TV show or movie asks to use it. “Criminal” is my most requested song. In the past I have used my “Criminal” money to help friends or family….after months and months of reading the news about how my country is treating refugees, I’ve become gutted with frustration trying to figure out the best way to help. Of course you can donate money for the bare necessities, toothbrushes, blankets, tents, Pedialyte, etc., but after much searching I found the organization WhileTheyWait.org It seems to me that the best way I can help detainees is to contribute to payment of their legal fees.”
She also urged other artists to do their part by saying, “I want to ask other songwriters to donate just ONE TIME, the money they get for the usage of one of their songs to this organization or one of their choosing.”
You can read her full blog post here.