Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have scotched plans to pick up a prestigious honor at Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQIA+ film festival, and it’s all down to the actors strike.
The Hollywood couple were to have accepted the James Schamus Ally Award at Outfest’s closing night on Sunday but cancelled because of the SAG-AFTRA walkout. The award, named for the co-founder and former CEO of Focus Features, recognizes McCarthy and Falcone’s support and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We understand that Melissa and Ben are unable to join us for our closing night due to the strike,” Outfest Executive Director Damien Navarro said in a statement. “We will miss them, as our closing night will be a wonderful celebration of our community.”
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The festival wraps with a gala event at the Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood, featuring a screening of Chasing Chasing Amy, a documentary that reevaluates Kevin Smith’s groundbreaking 1997 film Chasing Amy that starred Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck.
Outfest’s opening night gala on July 13 also felt the impact of the actors strike. Actress Amandla Stenberg, who stars in the Outfest film My Animal, was expected to be on hand to accept the festival’s Platinum Maverick Award, but she cancelled in solidarity with the strike action. My Animal director Jacqueline Castel accepted in her stead.
Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales, the young leads of opening night film Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, declined the opportunity to appear on stage to introduce their film with director Aitch Alberto. The filmmaker told the audience at the Orpheum Theatre her stars chose to remain seated to express solidarity with fellow actors.
On opening night, Navarro told Deadline he anticipated the strike, which began at 12:01 a.m. on July 14, would likely cut down on star sightings at Outfest.
“We are probably going to not see as many actors on panels and conversations after the film ends in some cases, being able to talk about the film that they were in,” Navarro told us. “But that is not the reason most people are here to come and experience Outfest. [Actors] will still be hopefully encouraged to come as audience members themselves and share in the solidarity of the work that they created.”
In June, McCarthy was honored as an Ally Icon during West Hollywood’s Gay Pride celebration. She rode down Santa Monica Boulevard in a BMW, wearing a glittering rainbow-colored outfit and sporting a “thought bubble”-style headpiece emblazoned with the words “Say Gay” — a reference to a law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that bars public schoolteachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity with students from kindergarten through grade 3. Opponents have called it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
McCarthy and Falcone have also raised significant funds for The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that works to reduce suicide rates among LGBTQ youth.
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