What Happened to the Celebrity Telethon?

On Nov. 2, CBS and CMT simulcast a one-hour prerecorded benefit on behalf of the United Way for relief following hurricanes Helene and Milton, which caused $50 billion-plus in damages across Appalachia and the broader Southeast. Blake Shelton, the Zac Brown Band, J.B. Smoove and others made appearances and performed. While the effort raised $6.2 million, it was also indicative of the shrinking footprint of linear television.

In the past, such endeavors were mostly live events, and media conglomerates at times made extraordinary shows of “roadblocking” their air to command the public’s attention and pocketbooks. Veteran TV producer Joel Gallen recalls hearing from the heads of the major networks immediately after Sept. 11 to give them two hours of primetime to orchestrate what became America: A Tribute to Heroes, which raised more than $200 million for the United Way. “It’s unique to receive a call from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox where they’re coming together like that,” he says. “Then, when Katrina happened, they did it again. Of course, in 2001 or 2005, it was incredibly impactful to roadblock. Now, not as much — because people aren’t watching network television in the same numbers.”

Melissa Sun, a marketing consultant who has long operated at the intersection of the entertainment and nonprofit worlds, says that as network viewership diminishes, charities “now need to rely on multiple platforms, tactics and messengers to make up the various parts of that funnel.” She adds that the ability to fundraise at scale is increasingly challenging “in a rapid response situation. That’s why we see so many creatives now working to own and operate their own pies.”

The sheer rise in the number of crises has affected efforts to respond to them. “One of the things that’s changed, certainly over the past decade, is the frequency of large-scale calls to action,” says Nicole Sexton, president and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. The EIF administrated funds generated by the 2010 George Clooney- and Wyclef Jean-led Hope for Haiti Now benefit, which drew 83 million U.S. viewers, and 2017’s Somos Live! telethon, which was hosted by Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez and simulcast by NBC and Spanish-language rivals Univision and Telemundo to help victims of natural disasters in Mexico, the southern U.S., Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Sexton adds, “There’s often not enough time to respond before the next occurrence becomes front-page news.”

Sexton explains that “usually the most successful efforts are mounted by people with a personal connection to the afflicted place,” citing Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson’s spearheading of the People’s Fund of Maui following the August 2023 wildfire that wiped out Lahaina. (It’s since distributed nearly $60 million to affected residents.)

Julia Rosen, a strategist for nonprofits who’s been at work on partnered efforts in response to Milton and Helene, notes that “what’s changed is that celebrities — traditional ones and influencers — now have the ability to immediately, directly reach out to their audiences. That’s a fundamental shift in how star power is leveraged for charity. They can post a video and put a link in their bio and tell the people who follow them to go [fund]raise. So, there’s no longer the same requirement to create an elaborate production when a disaster happens to draw focus. Celebrities already have people’s attention and can channel it.” Natalie Tran, executive director at the CAA Foundation, agrees: “A lot of [potential donors] are looking for ease. They don’t want to watch something for an hour.”

Rachel Kropa, head of social impact at management firm Range, notes that social platforms are better suited “for talent to talk to fans more authentically and intimately about their cause.” She adds, “if the talent doesn’t use social media, but they’re working with a nonprofit organization that has a great digital presence, then that audience can be activated.”

Byron V. Garrett, the United Way’s chief revenue officer, orchestrated the Nov. 2 CBS/CMT benefit with the help of a Paramount Global executive who’s on the charity’s board of trustees. He knows full well that the telethon is an evolving format for a shifting demo of givers. “People who are my mom’s age and my age are tuning in,” he says of television. “But if you’re younger, giving happens through your phone, on Twitch.”

Well-meaning online efforts to raise money or morale can, of course, flop. Gal Gadot’s viral 2020 cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” circulated to buoy spirits at the onset of COVID-19, is Exhibit A. (“The video was premature,” Gadot later reflected.)

Gallen notes that “there’s a lot of anti-celebrity [sentiment] out there now that there wasn’t a decade or two ago.” Bao Nguyen, who directed Netflix’s The Greatest Night in Pop about the seminal charity single “We Are the World,” which raised money for an Ethiopian famine, thinks the “Imagine” cover controversy may have chilled celebrity buy-in for similar efforts: “People are going to be more hesitant to put themselves out there in that context — which is unfortunate.”

The shift to digital has meant that “A-list talent,” in the context of fundraising, is less defined by widespread renown than deep connections within their own niche audiences. “The best messengers today are not names that leaders of nonprofits have necessarily ever heard of, unless they ask their kids or their grandkids,” says Matt Fitzgerald, a crowdfunding consultant who has been working on charitable initiatives with YouTube sensation MrBeast. 

These creators are, in part, iterating the next-gen telethon through livestreaming. “We have a client whose online name is Jacksepticeye — a gamer-comedian personality — who’s been doing an annual event around the holidays called Thanksmas over Twitch,” says Adam Umhoefer, an executive at the CAA Foundation. “It’s raised more than $25 million over the past five years. This is the new model.”

Michael Wasserman, CEO of Tiltify, the fundraising platform that hosts Thanksmas and similar events, says livestreaming allows for fresh energy. “Now, we have the opportunity through this technology where it’s more instantaneous: You donate, your name appears on the screen, the total goes up — it’s gratification,” he says. “If everyone hits a certain milestone, a headliner’s performance is unlocked. These are things you couldn’t do in the past with this kind of event.”

So, for causes and their champions, the twilight of the traditional telethon may not be a bad thing. After all, muses Sun, they “were more of a savior-superhero strategy,” and, according to Kropa, their online replacement “allows a closeness with potential donors that is pretty compelling.”

This story first appeared in the Nov. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.