Alicia Keys Worries About Ebola Coverage ‘Pumping Fear’ Into Us

Alicia Keys is worried about how the Ebola crisis is being portrayed in the U.S. 

“Obviously it’s devastating and it’s something that has to be paid attention to,” the singer told ESSENCE on the red carpet of her 11th annual Keep a Child Alive Black Ball. “It’s something that we as a global community need to react to, but I do think that some of the messaging that’s getting out in America is confusing.

“It’s pumping fear into a lot of us,” she added.

Keys hosts the annual charity event to raise money to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. This year’s ball, attended by the likes of Diddy, Kanye West, Aretha Franklin and Madonna, raised $2.3 million to go towards supporting children and families with HIV in Africa and India.

Keys has also joined forces with Hunger Games star Jeffrey Wright’s in his #CrushEbolaNow campaign, which aims to raise awareness about solutions for the outbreak.

The 33-year-old says she hopes the public can get more involved by “encouraging our leaders to make sure we’re paying attention to it to help get medical professionals over to [Africa] to help and provide assistance.”