P&G and iHeartMedia Celebrated the Fifth Annual Can’t Cancel Pride 2024 Hosted by Billy Porter on June 12
Performances from Elton John Impact Award Recipient and Host Billy Porter, Allison Russell, Ben Platt, David Archuleta, Meghan Trainor, Melissa Etheridge, Orville Peck, RAYE and Victoria Monét
Elton John Honored Billy Porter with the Elton John Impact Award for His Advocacy of Marginalized Communities, LGBTQ+ Rights, HIV Care, Racial Justice and Gender Equity
Can’t Cancel Pride Streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook Pages, Hulu, and Revry on June 12 and Will be Available Throughout Pride Month
NEW YORK – June 13, 2024 – iHeartMedia and P&G’s Can’t Cancel Pride 2024 event streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages, Hulu and Revry yesterday evening at 8 p.m. ET. The evening recognized the impact both music and LGBTQ+ organizations have on the community and featured performances by Elton John Impact Award Recipient and host Billy Porter, honored for his advocacy of marginalized communities, LGBTQ+ rights, HIV care, racial justice and gender equity, Allison Russell, Ben Platt, David Archuleta, Meghan Trainor, Melissa Etheridge, Orville Peck, RAYE, Victoria Monét and more. The event will be available to stream throughout Pride Month.
In addition to music, Can’t Cancel Pride 2024 included special appearances from members of the LGBTQ+ community and advocates including Alan Cumming and Joel Kim Booster, Adam Lambert, Brandi and Catherine Carlile, Brian Michael Smith, Brothers Osborne, Bruno Alcantara, Chappell Roan, Elton John, Eddie Ndopu, Jazz Jennings, Jennifer Hudson, Jodie Sweetin and Kevin McHale, Paris Hilton, Priyanka, Sherry Cola, Tan France and Karamo Brown and more.
“The honor is all mine to present the third annual Elton John Impact Award to the extraordinary Billy Porter,” said Elton John. “His achievements go beyond winning an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony; Billy embodies authenticity, tirelessly using his platform to dismantle harmful stigmas. Whether it’s on TV screens or radio airwaves, Billy infuses every project with powerful LGBTQ+ representation, making a profound and lasting impact on audiences around the world. For these reasons and more, he is truly deserving of this honor. Thank you for being your authentic, trailblazing self, Billy!”
The event celebrated the trailblazers creating positive change across different areas of society while providing much needed visibility and funding for six LGBTQ+ organizations – CenterLink, GLAAD, National Black Justice Coalition, Outright International, The Trevor Project and SAGE – to continue the transformative work they are accomplishing in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Now in its fifth year, the event has raised more than $17 million for those organizations and celebrated the profound impact of music, a unifying force that can drive society toward more equality and acceptance for all.
The benefit special included these special moments:
- Meghan Trainor and Gay Mens’ Chorus of Los Angeles opens the show with a performance of her new song “I Wanna Thank Me” and her hit “All About That Bass.”
- Host Billy Porter took a moment to share the importance of music and how “in groundbreaking moments and shattering ones, music keeps us powerful, visible, and drives inclusion across the board, inspiring the community to live our lives fully, authentically and full of pride.”
- Priyanka took the stage to shine a light on CenterLink and the essential resources they bring the community. This year, they are celebrating their 30th anniversary.
- Paris Hilton brought the audience behind the scenes to unveil how iHeartMedia and Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media Impact joined forces to renovate spaces including the laundry room and closet at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, part of CenterLink, with the help of Emmy-winning design expert Bobby Berk who led the redesign. iHeartMedia and Paris Hilton focused efforts on highly visited areas of the Center, which offers showers, laundry service, food and clothes to LGBTQ+ youth to help them get back on their feet. Can’t Cancel Pride and Paris Hilton funded and redesigned the main dressing and laundry facilities, designed by Bobby Berk, including much needed new washing and drying machines, a supply of Tide and Downy donated by P&G, a complete renovation of the space, and clothes donated by IHL Group, Fabletics, and other brands in the closet.
- Ben Platt expressed his gratitude to the queer community and broke out his new original love song dedicated to his fiancé Noah Gavin, “Cherry on Top.”
- Melissa Etheridge shared that she admires how the queer community supports each other and is joined by Orville Peck to perform her 1993 classic hit “I’m The Only One.”
- Jennifer Hudson shared a message on the importance of using our voices to show love for each other and ourselves.
- David Archuleta performed “Hell Together,” an emotional story inspired by his mom’s never-ending support.
- RAYE bared her soul in a pitch-perfect performance of her new summer hit “Genesis,” conveying a message of hope captured by the theme “out of darkness comes light.”
- Brian Michael Smith shined a light on National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization focused on empowering Black LGBTQ+/SGL people and families.
- Tan France and Karamo Brown opened up about their own struggles growing up and the importance of making everyone feel accepted.
- Three-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and producer Victoria Monét had the crowd dancing with her electrifying performance of her hit single “On My Mama.”
- Sherry Cola and Anthony Allen Ramos, introduced Orville Peck, mentioning how GLAAD was proud to honor Orville with their Vito Russo Award this year.
- Orville Peck thanked GLAAD for honoring him this year and reminds the audience to support one another within the community. He sings about queerness everywhere on his breakout spring cover of “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” from his new duets album “Stampede, Vol 1.”
- Brandi and Catherine Carlile spoke on their foundation “The Looking Out Foundation” and how with the help of P&G they gave back to Outright International’s organization Casa Frida Refugio, a center in Mexico providing an economic empowerment program to women at the center.
- Allison Russell shared how she wants the LGBTQ+ family to feel loved and performed her heartfelt track, “You’re Not Alone.”
- Elton John presented Billy Porter with the Elton John Impact Award in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Elton recognizes Billy as “a true humanitarian who has made a long lasting impact as a fundraiser and awareness raiser, particularly when it comes to HIV and AIDS.”
- Billy Porter accepted his award “on behalf of all the lovers, all the fighters, all the icons, the people who gave everything they had, especially those with HIV who never got to see a world where we can live long, healthy lives.” After accepting his award, he invites fans to Black Mona Lisa Volume 2…The Cookout Sessions, closing out the show with an energetic performance.
With support from P&G brands including, Bounty®, Cascade®, Charmin®, Dawn®, Downy®, Febreze®, Gillette® Venus, Olay Body, Pantene®, Swiffer® and Tide®, the event is a month-long Pride celebration throughout June. Fans can follow along on social media using the hashtag #CantCancelPride and support the participating nonprofits by visiting cantcancelpride.com.
Additional proud partners of Can’t Cancel Pride include OLAY® and Vicks.
Executive Producers for “Can’t Cancel Pride” are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Bart Peters and Gayle Troberman of iHeartMedia; “Can’t Cancel Pride” Co-Founder Brent Miller of P&G; David Collins, Rob Eric, and Renata Lombardo of Scout Productions and Executive Producer and Showrunner Larissa A.K. Matsson of Scout Productions.
To access photos and b-roll from the event, please use the links below:
B-roll:
Photos:
Password: CCP_2o24
Red Carpet:
https://iheartradio.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000JnOBxjpv3tM/G0000LCHQ2HZyTpg/Red-Carpet
Show:
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