Jennifer Hudson to Receive Rowdy Activist Award at Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS

Jennifer Hudson will accept the first-ever Elizabeth Taylor Rowdy Activist Award for her ongoing support for people living with HIV, and for the LGBTQ+ community. The award will be presented at The Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS fundraising gala on Sept. 26 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hudson, who will turn 43 on Sept. 12, became an EGOT in 2022. She was just 40 when she completed the awards sweep, younger than any other woman in history. Her eponymous talk show, which will return for a third season on Sept. 16, has received many awards and nominations, including GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award.

Singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield will perform at the event. Bedingfield has landed two top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine.” “Unwritten” was boosted by its prominent placement in the hit rom-com Anyone But You starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.

Richard Dickson, president and CEO of Gap Inc., will accept The Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award at the event.

Model, actress and author Dominique Jackson will serve as the event MC. The Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS will include a seated dinner, a live auction in partnership with Christie’s and an exclusive look at items from The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.

Taylor, who died in 2011 at age 79, was a vocal advocate for people with AIDS at a time when the word was scarcely spoken in polite society. Taylor began her philanthropic efforts in 1984, co-organizing and hosting the first AIDS fundraiser to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to provide support services for people with HIV/AIDS, paying for its overhead costs herself. Since her death, her estate has continued to fund ETAF’s work, and donates 25% of royalties from the use of her image and likeness to the foundation.

Taylor received several awards for her philanthropic work. She was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 1987, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 1993 and was awarded the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2000.