A host of celebrities including Cecily Strong, Uzo Aduba, Eric McCormack and Leslie Jordan are scheduled to take part Saturday in the seventh biennial Stand Up To Cancer fundraising event to generate funds for cancer research.
Others set to join the event, which will be televised at 8 p.m. Saturday, include Alison Sweeney, Chandra Wilson, Ciara, Danai Gurira, Ed Helms, Matthew McConaughey, Max Greenfield, Kyle MacLachlan and Tony Hale.
Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and entrepreneur Jim Toth are the executive producers of the event, which will be co-hosted by Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong and Tran Ho.
The late actor Chadwick Boseman, best known for his lead role in “Black Panther,” will be honored during the event in a segment including Anderson and Boseman’s wife, Simone. Boseman died last year from colon cancer at age 43.
SU2C’s special will broadcast from Los Angeles and air on more than 60 media platforms in the United States and Canada, including all four major broadcast networks in the United States. Broadcasters donate an hour of commercial-free prime time air for the event. The telecast will also be available streaming and on-demand.
A kick-off social media campaign, #Up2Us to #StandUpToCancer Week, began last week and features live streams, patient stories and a dance challenge by pediatric cancer patient and dancer Orli Halpen.
On the night of the special, sketch comedy group Smosh will host a Jackbox Games competition on their Twitch channel to raise awareness and funds for Stand Up To Cancer’s research.
SU2C has raised more than $603 million for cancer research, and contributed to nine FDA approvals for new cancer therapies, and 258 clinical trials treating more than 19,000 patients, organizers say. In 2017, SU2C developed its Health Equity Initiative to increase diverse enrollment in cancer clinical trials, fund innovative research addressing cancer inequities and raise awareness of the importance of cancer screenings.