Actor Simon Pegg has said that he is standing by Oxfam in spite of the recent sex scandal surrounding the global charity organization.
Pegg – who is a celebrity ambassador for the charity – said that Oxfam helps “countless people” and that he thinks it would be “wrong to hold the entire organization to account for the actions of a few people.”
“This isn’t something that was done by Oxfam, this was done by some morally reprehensible people who managed to infiltrate Oxfam,” the “Star Trek” actor told ITV News during the Newport Beach Film Festival.
“To punish Oxfam I think is wrong.”
The news comes just days after actress Minnie Driver stepped down from her role as celebrity ambassador for the charity. The “Good Will Hunting” star told the BBC that she was “nothing short of horrified” when she heard about the allegations, which reports that Oxfam workers paid for sex while on a humanitarian mission in Haiti in 2011.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu also quit his role as an Oxfam ambassador, with a statement reading that he was “deeply disappointed by allegations of immorality and possible criminality involving humanitarian workers linked to the charity.”
RELATED: Minnie Driver Cuts Ties With Oxfam After Haiti Sex Scandal
Pegg, however, is sticking with the charity. “I respect Oxfam enormously and the people that I’ve always dealt with have been nothing short of heroes to me,” he told ITV News. “It’s an extraordinary charity. I’m being kept abreast of the situation, they’re monitoring it for me, they’ve been very transparent for me.”
“All I know is that I trust Oxfam are dealing with it as best they can,” he added.
He also said he worries about the people that “are going to suffer if everybody abandons the charity.”
Earlier in the week, deputy chief executive, Penny Lawrence, resigned over the behavior of Oxfam staff and the organization’s handling of complaints.
