GLAAD could be hit with a $2 million loss as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Variety reported the LGBTQ media watchdog group announced Monday it would cancel its April 16 media awards gala in Los Angeles because of concerns over the virus. Less than a week earlier it has canceled its March media awards in New York.
“This is a $2 million implication to our bottom line,” GLAAD’s president Sarah Ellis told Variety. “They are our biggest fundraising events and they help support a lot of our programming.”
The Los Angeles event was scheduled to honor Taylor Swift and bring in more than 1,000 guests. Another 800 were expected at the New York gala. Late night star Lilly Singh was set to host the Big Apple event where Ryan Murphy and Judith Light were set to receive awards, according to EOnline.
However, many of the corporate sponsors have agreed not to pull their financial commitments, Ellis said.
“We called them individually and the majority of them without even having to ask offered and said they would turn it into a donation,” Ellis said. “It is amazing. It is phenomenal.”
GLAAD had hoped to raise about $500,000 during the galas from silent and live actions. Additional money also was expected from last-minute ticket and table buys, according to Variety.
“We were thinking of maybe putting the auctions online but a lot of these auctions are trips,” Ellis said. “No one’s head is there right now. It seems bizarre to put up a cruise. You’d be laughed right off the internet.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.