Tom Selleck helped the battered restaurant industry recently by taking part in the 2020 Tip Challenge. The actor left a $2,020 tip at Elio’s restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Selleck also left a note at the restaurant, which read: “I am honoring my friend Donnie Wahlberg’s ‘Tip Challenge’ with my sincere hope for a better 2020. Thank you all, Tom Selleck.”
Selleck had run up a $200 tab at the restaurant, USA Today reported. But his $2,020 tip was above and beyond. And his “Blue Bloods” co-star Donnie Wahlberg was quick to point out Selleck’s good deed on Twitter.
“I found out that my TV Dad #TomSelleck has generously accepted the #2020TipChallenge at Elios Upper East Side!” Wahlberg tweeted. “Love ya dad. ❤️ I didn’t start it but I’m proud to be part of it. To those who gave even the smallest extra amount this year — THANK YOU.”
Wahlberg also joined in the 2020 Tip Challenge early this year when he tipped $2,020 at a St. Charles, Illinois IHOP on New Year’s Day, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His wife, actress Jenny McCarthy, posted a photo of the receipt on Twitter.
The 2020 Tip Challenge appears to have started in Michigan at the very end of last year. A waitress named Danielle Franzoni received a $2,020 tip on a $23 restaurant bill, according to CBS News. The credit card receipt read simply, “Happy New Year. 2020 Tip Challenge.”
Franzoni – a single mother who had recently been homeless – went on to leave a $20.20 tip at a restaurant where she had dined as a way of paying it forward.
Selleck, 75, told CNN in an interview this April that while he loves acting, he was not cut out for celebrity. He considers himself a private person.
“I’m proud of my work, I still love what I do, and I have my family,” Selleck said. “I’ve been enormously fortunate.”
