NBC to air Primetime Special featuring Volodymyr Zelensky to raise funds for Ukraine
Jun 28, 2022
Washington [US], June 28 : NBC has confirmed that it will air a primetime special 'Ukraine: Answering the Call' to raise funds and awareness for the war in Ukraine, featuring an address by president Volodymyr Zelensky on July 3 at 7 p.m.
'Ukraine: Answering the Call' aims to respond to previous comments from Zelensky, who has challenged Americans to speak up about the war, as per Variety.
The one-hour special also features appearances from Jose Andres, Jon Batiste, Kristen Bell, Brandi Carlile, Brian Cox, Jeff Daniels, Vera Farmiga, Lena Headey, Alicia Keys, Simu Liu, Julianne Moore, Brad Paisley and Rosie Perez.
Additionally, Broadway stars Rachel Bay Jones, Brenda Braxton, Liz Callaway, Lilla Crawford, Juwan Crawley, Jose Llana, Beth Malone, Andrea McArdle, Bonnie Milligan, Orfeh, Krysta Rodriguez, Seth Rudetsky, James Wesley and NaTasha Yvette Williams will perform a rendition of 'What the World Needs Now is Love,' which was often used as a message of peace during the Vietnam War.
In addition to Zelensky, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, will also give a speech. NBC News will share stories about people around the world affected by the crisis in Ukraine.
According to Variety, viewers will be encouraged to donate to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization that helps people affected by humanitarian crises to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. And the platform Buzznog will make available a digital collectible created by a Ukrainian artist available exclusively through the Zelus Wallet via a QR Code on-screen during the telethon. For every download of the digital collectible, Zelus will donate USD 10 to the IRC up to USD 500,000.
'Ukraine: Answering the Call' is produced by Done+Dusted, while David Jammy, Elizabeth Kelly, Ian Stewart, Nicolle Wallace and David Wild serve as executive producers for the film.
