Credit: Steve KerosFour years after the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took the internet by storm, there’s a new viral awareness campaign for the fatal disease: the ALS Pepper Challenge. Like its predecessor, the ALS Pepper Challenge asks you to donate to ALS research, but instead of dumping freezing cold water on your head, you eat a hot pepper. So who better to take part than an actual member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Drummer Chad Smith accepted the ALS Pepper Challenge from ex-football player Steve Gleason, who suffers from ALS — a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease — himself. Smith tweeted a video of him accepting the challenge, and admits that, ironically, he doesn’t enjoy eating hot peppers.
“I don’t like chili peppers,” he says, sheepishly. “I’m not a fan of a hot pepper.”
Ever the trouper, though, Smith choked down a pepper while at a grocery store. He also challenged his doppleganger Will Ferrell, as well as Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, to do the same.
The ALS Pepper Challenge was started by sportswriter Tom Haberstroh, who launched the campaign after his mother was diagnosed with ALS. So far, celebrities including Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Clarkson, Charles Barkley and Jimmy Kimmel have participated.
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