Ryan Reynolds’ talking ugly sweater helps SickKids raise more than $580K

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and his now-talking ugly Christmas sweater raised more than $580,000 for Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in 2022.

This is the Vancouver-born star’s fourth consecutive holiday campaign. In total the “Sweater Love” movement, which was inspired by a real-life ugly sweater gag, helped the SickKids Foundation raise over $2.2 million.

For this year’s campaign, Reynolds brought fellow Canadian actor Seth Rogan into the fold—playing the important role of his now iconic red and green sweater.

In a video, which launched “Sweater Love,” Reynolds is constantly interrupted by the talking sweater.

“As a sweater and a fellow Canadian that comes out but once a year I’ve grown a little tired of Ryan’s like self-deprecating, deadpan jokes,” the animated sweater, voiced by Rogan, says. “Instead, revel in the wonder of a talking sweater as you make a donation to SickKids.”

A number of athletes and politicians have taken part in the campaign, including Toronto Maple Leafs player Auston Matthews who made a brief appearance in the campaign video.

In a news release issued Thursday, SickKids hospital said the 2022 “Sweater Love” campaign raised more than $580,000 for the hospital’s campus redevelopment project. This included a $100,000 donation by Samsung Canada, who said it would match donations made before midnight on Christmas Eve.

Last year, more than $640,000 was raised after 5,000 ugly sweater replica t-shirts were handed out to front-line workers and a number of patients were surprised with festive-themed blankets.

Ryan Reynolds stands between Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal at a holiday party. (Ryan Reynolds / Instagram)

The symbol of the campaign—the “aesthetically challenged” sweater—is based off a real clothing item Reynolds purchased when he was tricked by fellow actors Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaall into thinking a party he was attending was sweater themed.