Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth to Executive Produce With Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong & Tran Ho,
And Sofia Vergara Hosting – Saturday, August 21, 8 pm ET & PT / 7 pm CT
LOS ANGELES – August 12, 2021 – Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) has added more star power to the lineup of its seventh biennial roadblock televised fundraising special. Celebrities lending their support to help raise funds for cancer research, including participating in video chats with donors during the telecast are Alison Sweeney, Cecily Strong, Chandra Wilson, Ciara, Danai Gurira, Deon Cole, Ed Helms, Italia Ricci, Jaime Camil, Jennifer Garner, Kate del Castillo, Kyle MacLachlan, Matthew McConaughey, Max Greenfield, Michael Peña, MJ Rodriguez, Tony Hale, and Tony and October Gonzalez.
This year’s show will air on Saturday, August 21 at 8PM ET & PT / 7PM CT. As announced previously, Academy Award®-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, a media industry entrepreneur and investor, will executive produce the special that will be co-hosted by Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong & Tran Ho, and Sofia Vergara. SU2C co-founder and special guest Katie Couric will also appear and there will be performances from Brittany Howard and Common with Stevie Wonder.
A special segment during the event will also feature appearances from Canadian news and sportscasters Bryan Mudryk (TSN), Carolyn Mackenzie (Global’s The Morning Show), and Danielle Michaud (Sportsnet), and CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries star Yannick Bisson, who share their personal connections to cancer. Other Canadian celebrities supporting the televised special include Cottage Life’s Adam Holman from Cottage Coach, CBC’s Family Feud Canada host Gerry Dee, 102.1 the Edge’s Kolter Bouchard, ET Canada’s Sangita Patel, along with CBC’s Heartland cast members, Amber Marshall and Shaun Johnston, the cast of Global’s Family Law, including Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams, and Global’s Nurses cast members Tiera Skovbye and Sandy Sidhu.
During the show, viewers will be immersed in first-hand stories featuring families who have been impacted by cancer. These moving stories will share the journey of an 11-year-old boy with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a woman who has lived with pancreatic cancer for 10 years, and a woman with multiple myeloma whose husband was driven to participate in a SU2C clinical trial because of his wife’s diagnosis. The show will also feature interviews with SU2C-funded investigators who will share the many reasons they are working tirelessly and urgently to improve cancer treatments.
Stand Up To Cancer’s biennial special will broadcast from Los Angeles and air simultaneously on more than 60 participating media platforms across Canada and the United States, including all four major broadcast networks in the U.S. Broadcasters carrying the show are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free prime time. The telecast will also be available to stream live and on-demand on several streaming platforms.
Since its inception, SU2C has raised over $603 million to bring together more than 1,950 of the best scientists from over 210 leading institutions to collaborate towards ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death worldwide. SU2C’s research has contributed to nine FDA approvals for new cancer therapies, and 258 clinical trials treating more than 19,000 patients. Recognizing that improving cancer care is a critical need in medically underserved communities, SU2C began developing its Health Equity Initiative in 2017. The initiative aims to increase diverse enrollment in cancer clinical trials, fund innovative research that addresses cancer inequities, and raise awareness of the importance of cancer screenings.
SU2C is also supported by generous donors who share the same goal of accelerating groundbreaking cancer research, increasing cancer screenings, and ensuring equity in cancer care and clinical trials. SU2C’s founding donor, Major League Baseball (MLB), has continued to annually provide both financial support and countless opportunities to build the Stand Up To Cancer movement among its worldwide fanbase. In addition to MLB, SU2C’s “Luminary” donors include Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Lustgarten Foundation, and Mastercard. “Visionary” donors include American Airlines and the Sidney Kimmel Foundation. Additional major donors and collaborators include Count Me In, Exact Sciences, Providence (Providence Saint John’s Health Center), Rally Health, and Van Andel Institute, along with the Canadian Cancer Society for SU2C Canada.
In addition to Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, the fundraising special will be executive produced by Done + Dusted and Stand Up To Cancer’s production team.
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize these communities’ resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. As of January 2021, more than 1,950 scientists representing more than 210 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.
Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., SU2C conducts rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is SU2C’s scientific partner.
Current members of the SU2C Founders and Advisors Committee (FAC) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., serves as SU2C’s CEO, and Russell Chew as SU2C’s President.
About Stand Up To Cancer Canada
Stand Up To Cancer Canada is a Canadian registered charity (Reg: # 80550 6730 RR0001), launched by the U.S.-based Entertainment Industry Foundation in 2014. Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada) raises funds to support collaborative cancer research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.
For more information, visit StandUpToCancer.ca, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.
Media Contact:
Fiona McRobert
Stand Up To Cancer
fmcrobert@su2c.org
