Uniting for a cause. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood came together at the 2016 Stand Up to Cancer televised fundraiser on Friday, September 9, to raise money for cancer research.
Celine Dion, Tom Hanks, Kathy Bates, Shannen Doherty, Katie Couric and Bradley Cooper (who executive-produced the TV special) were among the dozens of stars who graced the red carpet at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall for the annual event.
During the telecast, Couric, who is one of the SU2C foundation’s cofounders, discussed the importance of finding a cure for cancer through innovative research.
“It’s such a complicated disease because it’s different in every single biology,” the 59-year-old journalist, who lost her first husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998, explained. “Some response rates are so short-lived because cancer is so intensely wily and it can outwit its fiercest opponent. So we just have to keep figuring out ways to say ‘Oh, no you don’t’ to cancer.”
Throughout the evening, a handful of celebrity cancer survivors and those currently undergoing treatment opened about about their battles. Bates, who attended the fundraiser for the first time this year, is a two-time cancer survivor; she beat ovarian cancer in 2003 and breast cancer in 2012.
“This is actually my first time [at SU2C],” the American Horror Story actress, 68, told the star-studded audience Friday night. “I met [cofounder] Sherry Lansing a couple of years ago, and I was actually asking her advice on how to create something like this. But when I see what they’ve accomplished in the last eight years, it’s just awe-inspiring.”
Doherty, 45, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, took to Instagram after the event to say she was “humbled” by the experience. “This night meant so much to so many people including myself,” she wrote. “I’m forever humbled by the stories I heard tonight and the people I met.… Thank you to everybody at @su2c who are so dedicated in trying to find a cure and give people with cancer better alternatives. I feel blessed to be a part of the cancer family tonight and to [have] witnessed such love.”
Dion, 48, gave a heartfelt performance of her new song “Recovering” (which was written by Pink) as a tribute to her late husband, René Angélil, who died earlier this year following a long battle with throat cancer.
“I miss René every day, and the loss will now be a part of my life,” the singer told the SU2C crowd. “I also lost my father and my brother Daniel to cancer.… [Pink] offered me a song that expresses the power to stand up and stay strong.”
Emma Stone, Matt Bomer, Kevin Hart, Rita Wilson, Anna Kendrick, Matthew McConaughey, Mel B, Tony Hale, Zach Galifianakis and Jillian Michaels also attended Friday night’s fundraiser.
