Kiefer Sutherland urges Americans to unite to help Ukraine: 'What's happening is wrong'

Actor and musician Kiefer Sutherland, best known for his role as Jack Bauer in the television series 24, weighed in on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying he wants to see "everybody come together and help Ukraine."

Sutherland was asked if he would like to see musicians come together for some sort of fundraising event to support Ukraine.

"I want to see everybody come together and help the Ukraine," said Sutherland, who stopped in Washington during the tour for his new album Bloor Street. "What's happening is wrong. It's wrong and that's what it is. Period."

Grammy award-winning artists Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson famously wrote and recorded, "We Are the World" in 1985 to raise funds to combat famine in Ethiopia. Richie said in 2020 that a new version of the song might be recorded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. No new recording has been forthcoming.

The Library of Congress recently honored Richie with the 2022 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. During an event prior to the award ceremony, Richie was asked if the world needs a new version of "We Are the World." Richie condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said the original version still resonates with the public today.

"The irony of that song is it is more valuable today than it even was back then because of the stupidity and the inhumanity of man," Richie said. "It is absurd to me and it was absurd to us back then that we had to write a song to raise money to save human beings. How absurd."

Richie said it's a "tragedy" that "we're allowing this and all behavior that does not fall under my grandmother's rules that you treat someone the way you want to be treated."

"You act the way you want to be treated," he said. "We have to take charge of our planet."

Richie said the international community is taking too long to respond to Russia's aggression.

"They're bombing downtown D.C. in the Ukraine. They're bombing your neighborhood and they just blew up your house and the world says, 'well, we're thinking about what we do about that.' Really? How much longer are you going to take?" Richie said. "The problem is we're taking too long. We're going to lose mankind and I'm afraid that the words that we wrote 30 some odd years ago still applies. So when someone says you need to write a new song, the answer is I already wrote it. Just listen to it again."