Sailor Brinkley-Cook Responds To Protective Face Gear Backlash

Hours after Sailor Brinkley-Cook, 21, and boyfriend Ben Sosne were spotted making a supply run at Whole Foods in Brooklyn wearing protective face gear on April 1, Sailor took to her Instagram Story to respond to the people angry at her for wearing face gear. She wrote: “To everyone reaching out (very angrily) about me having a mask.. My mom [Christie Brinkley] is an artist and does projects that require her to wear a mask so she had a stash of them in her art studio. We didn’t buy them upon hearing about the spread of COVID-19. She kept one mask for each one of our family members and then donated the rest to local hospitals. She’s been continuing to work to find supplies to help keep hospital workers safe as well. And is also donating 30% of @bellissimaprosecco products to protective equipment.”

Sailor stressed that she and her boyfriend only have one mask apiece and only wear them to stop the spread of coronavirus. “I have one mask. My boyfriend has one mask. And we are very grateful to have one and are donating daily to organizations helping to create masks,” she continued. “When we go to the grocery store or out on a walk we wear them so that god forbid if we might have it and don’t know we don’t spread it to someone less able to fight it off. Please stop sending me hateful messages, and stay safe.”

As of April 1, New York City is the city with the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. with nearly 48,000 cases and rising. Over 1,900 have died in New York City alone and Brooklyn is one of the hardest-hit boroughs. There is a severe shortage of face masks across the country, with doctors and nurses in desperate need of face masks. They’ve been forced to reuse their masks or make their own.

Sailor and her boyfriend are currently quarantined together in New York City. Sailor’s mom, Christie Brinkley, 66, and her brother, Jack, 24, are staying at Christie’s Hamptons home nearby. In addition to donating 30% of all Bellissima Prosecco’s online sales to the Direct Relief Foundation, a non-profit that provides essential medical resources like PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), Christie has started a “#LiftingSpirits” trend on Instagram so people can show the “depth of our gratitude and appreciation and love” to doctors and nurses who are working hard to save lives.