Sarah Hyland Takes a Break from Social Media After Backlash Over Promoting GoFundMe for Dead Cousin

Sarah Hyland is taking a break from social media after being brutalized for asking her followers to help her dead cousin's family pay for his funeral costs.

Over the weekend, the actress shared on Twitter that 14-year-old Trevor Canaday had been tragically killed by a drunk driver. Along with the announcement, she included a link to a GoFundMe page set up by Trevor's mother and sisters to help raise money for the funeral and medical expenses. Hyland asked her followers to donate.

Almost immediately, the 28-year-old got torn to shreds for asking her fans to contribute money to a cause many felt she should be willing and able to cover herself (as of 2017, the actress has been making roughly $2.2 million per season of "Modern Family").

Fans noted that Hyland appeared to publicly donate $1,000 while -- according to the contributors section of the fundraising page -- her "Modern Family" co-star, Ariel Winter, pitched in $2,500 of what was originally a $10,000 goal. The fundraising drive was then set to $15,000 and has since moved (at the time of publishing this article) to $40,000, which it has already exceeded.

"I'm sad for them, but can't you pay for the funeral? $15,000 to you is like nothing," one critic replied to Hyland's tweet.

Another wrote, "A horrible tragedy!!! It feels weird that you are asking people to donate, though. People are donating $10, $20, $100, which is a lot for people. I hope you are financially helping them, too, because it would seem you have more resources than those donating. Prayers for your family."

"Despite how sorry I feel for her and her family, I agree," a third added. "It's odd that she is asking for donations when I would imagine that would be chump change for her."

Hyland responded to the backlash by asking everyone with "negative thoughts or opinions" about the tragedy "to keep them to themselves."

"You don't know all the details," she added. "And how dare you attack when a beautiful life has been lost." But even that didn't sit well with her fans.

"We know enough detail because you announced to the world that your cousin died," a critic replied. "By setting up a GoFundMe page, you also announced to the world that your cousins are too poor to afford a funeral and that you are too stingy and mean to part with your millions to help them out."

Another added, "You really don't get why you are being criticized for setting up a GoFundMe for your family member when you are a rich celebrity?"

And a third wrote, "It is strange of you to promote a crowdfunding page when you only donated $1,000 yourself (whilst being worth 9 million). Most of the people donating are working 9-5s, and it's weird that you're asking for money from them. If you want to keep it private, don't tweet about it."

Hyland eventually tweeted again, this time announcing she'd be taking a breather from the social media platform. "You guys finally did it. Your horrible, negative, ignorant words have broken me. Happy? Staying offline for a while," she explained. "I have a special announcement and video releasing on Wednesday, I believe. So, there's that." On her Instagram Story, the actress simply shared a peace sign emoji.

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