The benefit, now celebrating 26 years, awarded the actor and activist its Courage Award
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
At this year’s celebration of An Unforgettable Evening, guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton on Monday, April 28, for the annual Women’s Cancer Research Fund benefit, joining honoree Olivia Munn. Gala chairs Jamie Tisch, Quinn Ezralow, and Laurie Feltheimer welcomed host Whitney Cummings as well as Munn’s husband, John Mulaney, Amanda Kloots, Jonathan Simkhai, Malin Akerman, Teddi Mellencamp, Rachel Zoe, Chord Overstreet, Kathy Hilton, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Katharine McPhee, Lindsay Price, Molly Sims, Nicole Eggert, Kyle Richards, and many others. The band Little Big Town was also on hand and performed a set of songs. The event — conceived to raise funds for pioneering research directed toward prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship both in-state and across the country — was founded by Tisch and Ezralow, along with Kate Capshaw, Kelly Chapman Meyer, and Rita Wilson (and also the late Anne Douglas, Renette Ezralow, and Marion Laurie).
“Now, more than ever, people have had hard times with the devastating fires in Los Angeles, other socioeconomic issues going on in our country, public health funding — it’s kind of a scary time and the fact that people believe in our mission and support us and support our cause really means a lot,” said Tisch. She also lauded actor and activist Munn, recipient of the evening’s Courage Award, for raising awareness among women about the importance of early detection by telling her story. “She has made such a tremendous impact on breast cancer awareness and the breast cancer risk assessment tool that she used and spoke about, there was a 4,000 percent increase in use, and that alone saves so many lives.”
Munn says she’s been humbled by the outpouring of support following her decision to speak about her breast cancer diagnosis. “The response and the love I’ve received has been so incredibly healing for me, it’s been overwhelming at times,” she said. “I really wanted women to know about the lifetime risk assessment test, I wanted them to know that knowing their score could save their life. And knowing that it’s just a free online test that everyone could take was my goal, and the fact that it spread like wildfire all over the globe is something that I never could have anticipated. And so to be here receiving this award and having people still talking about it keeps the conversation out there so that more women know. It’s still sometimes hard to comprehend where I started with this and then where it’s gotten.”
May 9, 2025
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