Hugh Jackman takes on new role for innovative charity

Hugh Jackman is used to getting top billing on his movie projects like for his latest film, “The Sheep Detectives.” In the midst of a global press tour to promote the feature, Jackman has announced a new role — Head of Impact for Humanitix, an innovative charity that takes ticket fees and turns them into donations.

The Sydney-based platform launched in 2016 after two high school buds, Adam McCurdie and Josh Ross, identified the inefficiencies in the ticketing platform space and sought out to reinvent how fees are used — particularly for good.

“The more I learned about Humanitix and how it works, the more I realised this isn’t just something I want to support from the sidelines,” Jackman said in a letter on Humanitix’s website.

Hugh Jackman is the new Head of Impact for Humanitix.

In his letter, Jackman hammered home the charity’s impact and that he does not take his appointment to the role lightly.

“The best version of capitalism is one where success and impact aren’t in tension,” he wrote. “They’re the same thing. If we get this right, extreme poverty doesn’t stand a chance.”

Humanitix makes the process easy for its customers. Select the event you want to attend like The Heart Experience in Topanga on June 14. A VIP seat with parking will cost $35 with $3.04 in fees. Head to check out and your “fees” will turn into something like “Literacy skills” or “Books for schools.” One-hundred percent of those fees are donated to one of their many charity partners.

“There’s a big difference between lending your name to something and truly getting behind it,” Ross told The California Post. “Hugh isn’t just endorsing Humanitix, he’s rolling up his sleeves to help build it.”

“Having someone of Hugh’s profile actively involved doesn’t just raise awareness, it opens doors we couldn’t open on our own.”

Hugh Jackman at “The Sheep Detectives” New York premiere. WireImage

Ross told The Post that Jackman is a perfect fit considering he “has spent his career at the heart of the arts and theatre.”

The platform was doubling every 18 months before Jackman joined according to Ross — and now with his star power, he hopes they could “become the default ticketing platform for events across the country” in the next few years.

Humanitix has already donated close to $14 million, according to Ross, and says he and Jackman are confident that they can get that to $70 million in the next few years.

The ticketing industry has not been seen in a positive light among concert and event goers in recent years — with the latest news that a Manhattan federal court ruled that Ticketmaster owner Live Nation has maintained an illegal monopoly over the live event and ticketing markets. Concertgoers paid an extra $1.72 per ticket as a direct result of Live Nation’s anti-competitive practices, the jury found, according to Bloomberg.

Humanitix’s charitable approach to ticketing fees is a breath of fresh air to Jackman.

“For a long time, we’ve accepted this idea that business exists to make money, and if you want to do good, you start a charity. Two separate worlds,” Jackman wrote in his letter. “Humanitix rejects that entirely – and that’s what makes it so important. Not just as a ticketing platform, but as a signal of where capitalism needs to go.”