Kunal Nayyar’s secret act of generosity is now going viral.
The 44-year-old actor, best known for playing Raj Koothrappali on all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory, revealed in a December 2025 interview with The i Paper that he regularly uses GoFundMe to anonymously give families the financial relief they need.
“Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people’s lives,” he said at the time. “We also support animal charities because we love dogs. But what I really love to do is go on GoFundMe at night and just pay random families’ medical bills. That’s my masked vigilante thing!”
At the height of Big Bang Theory’s success, Nayyar was said to have earned $1 million per episode, placing him on the list of one of the highest-paid TV actors ever. Last month, Fortune estimated Nayyar’s net worth to be $45 million.
Despite being published nearly two months ago, Nayyar’s interview recently went viral on social media amid news that friends of James Van Der Beek launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the late actor's wife and six children after his death on Feb. 11. The fundraiser has since raised over $2.6 million from more than 50,000 donations.
“THIS makes me happy MORE of this,” reacted one user on X (formerly Twitter).
“People are shaming him because he broadcasted his anonymous payment towards people’s medical bills,” wrote another user. “Yet it’s amazing to know there are still kind souls who use their wealth for good. After seeing all these revelations of the Epstein list, this news puts a smile on my face.”
Another user offered a different point of view, writing, “While admirable of Kunal Nayyar, this is (again) not a feel-good story. People should not have to get lucky and hope a tv star pays their medical bills. People SHOULD NOT HAVE medical bills bc healthcare should be universal as it is across the globe.”
That sentiment was echoed by another X user who wrote, “Props to him for using his wealth to help people, but it shouldn't have come to this. You can't tell me this is what a functional society looks like. Every year, 530,000 people go into medical debt. Our healthcare system is focused on profits, not care. We need Medicare for All!”