GLAAD on Wednesday announced that its
upcoming annual Media Awards in New York City had been canceled over
the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
GLAAD said in a statement that it was
following recommendations from Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose
administration is working to contain an outbreak. New York has the
second most confirmed cases of the virus behind Washington state,
where roughly two dozen people have died from the disease.
Rich Ferraro, chief communications
officer at GLAAD, said in a statement that the group planned to
unveil “a historic get-out-the-vote campaign” at the event,
previously scheduled for March 19.
GLAAD had previously announced that it
would honor director
Ryan Murphy and actress
Judith Light at its New York ceremony, and that Lilly
Singh would host. Adam Lambert and Ben Platt were scheduled to
perform.
The GLAAD Media Awards consists of two
ceremonies over two months. The second event is planned for April 16
in Los Angeles.
Ferraro said that the organization was
“speaking with public health officials in Los Angeles” about its
California ceremony. “We will provide an update regarding that
event in coming weeks,” he said.
“We will be in touch with nominees
shortly with plans for how award categories scheduled for the New
York show will be announced,” Ferraro said, “acknowledging that a
GLAAD Media Award nomination or win can raise the bar for LGBTQ
representation and serve as a catalyst for media executives to
greenlight additional LGBTQ projects.”