The actors’ strike has forced Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone to cancel their plans to receive a prestigious award at Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQIA+ film festival.
The Hollywood couple was supposed to accept the James Schamus Ally Award at Outfest’s closing night on Sunday, but they had to cancel due to the SAG-AFTRA walkout. The award, named after Focus Features’ co-founder and former CEO, recognises 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.”
The festival concludes with a gala event at Hollywood’s Montalbán Theatre, featuring a screening of Chasing Chasing Amy, a documentary that reevaluates Kevin Smith’s groundbreaking 1997 film Chasing Amy, starring Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck.
The actors’ strike had an impact on Outfest’s opening night gala on July 13. Amandla Stenberg, who stars in the Outfest film My Animal, was scheduled to attend to accept the festival’s Platinum Maverick Award, but she cancelled in solidarity with the strike. Jacqueline Castel, my Animal director, accepted in her place.
The young leads of opening night film Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales, declined the opportunity to appear on stage with director Aitch Alberto to introduce their film. The filmmaker told the Orpheum Theatre audience that her stars chose to remain seated in solidarity with fellow actors.
On the first night of Outfest, Navarro told Deadline that he expected the strike, which began at 12:01 a.m. on July 14, to reduce celebrity sightings.
“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.”
McCarthy was recognised as an Ally Icon during West Hollywood’s Gay Pride celebration in June. She was riding down Santa Monica Boulevard in a BMW, dressed in a glittering rainbow-colored outfit and wearing a “thought bubble”-style headpiece emblazoned with the words “Say Gay” — a reference to a law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that prohibits public schoolteachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students in kindergarten through grade three. Opponents have dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
McCarthy and Falcone have also contributed significantly to The Trevor Project, a non-profit dedicated to reducing suicide rates among LGBTQ youth.