Priscilla Presley’s son, Navarone Garibaldi Garcia, defended launching a GoFundMe to kickstart an “affordable organic pizza” business from his driveway.
The musician was forced to address critics via Instagram Friday after several questioned why he was aiming to raise $5,500 instead of asking his famous mother for the money.
“Haters gonna hate,” he wrote in the comments of his original video. “I’m sure I’ll have to explain this many more times to ignorant people who think I should ‘ask my mom’ or that I have money … YEAH, I also have a lot of bills, I also have a budget.”
Garcia, 39, explained that he also donates money to several causes, including homelessness.
“If I just went all in every time I thought I had a great idea … I’d be broke in 2 days,” he continued.
“I’m not asking [anyone] to donate that can’t afford to,” the songwriter added. “I’m offering free pizza to people that donate.”
Garcia stated that the money would cover the cost of a conventional pizza oven, and that he’s also contributing “a lot” of his own money.
“Just asking for help on the remaining bit that’s out of my budget. That’s all. Love and Peace, Kindness and pizza,” he concluded.
In the Them Guns’ frontman’s original video, he told viewers that “every little bit” helped him toward his goal, adding in his GoFundMe description that he was putting $3,000 of his own funds toward the oven.
“I have always wanted to start my own business, but marketing and advertising always get in my way,” he wrote. “The pizza dough and sauces already sourced. It’s just buying the oven that I need to get me started.”
As of Sunday afternoon, Garcia had raised $2,880.
Several fans also defended the aspiring businessman, with one writing via social media, “Maybe he’s trying to live his own life without asking mommy.”
Presley, 81, shares her son with screenwriter Marco Garibaldi, 71, whom she dated from 1984 to 2006.
The actress was also the mother to the late Lisa Marie Presley, who died in January 2023 as a result of complications from a small bowel obstruction due to prior bariatric surgery.
She shared her daughter with the late Elvis Presley, whom she was married to from 1967 to 1973.
