Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone Scrap Plans To Receive Award At LGBTQ Festival In View Of Actors Strike
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.” 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.
