Celebrities unite at exclusive Cannes gala to support AIDS research after Trump cuts
By Miranda Murray and Rollo Ross
CANNES, France (Reuters) - Famed actors, directors and music acts like Adrien Brody, Duran Duran and Spike Lee escaped the Cannes Film Festival's crowded Croisette boulevard on Thursday evening for the exclusive grounds of the nearby Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc for a good cause.
With tickets starting at $25,000, the amfAR charity dinner has been bringing stars to Cap d'Antibes, Cannes' quieter, palm-lined neighbour, since 1993 in the name of HIV/AIDS research.
The charity said the benefit has so far raised nearly $300 million for its research programs on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Celebrities including "Sing Sing" actor Colman Domingo, award-winning actor Taraji P. Henson and Michelle Rodriguez of the "Fast and Furious" franchise expressed concern about what U.S. President Donald Trump's budget and staffing cuts could mean for AIDS research and prevention around the world.
The United States' "recent reduction of a lot of those resources globally has affected the AIDS community profoundly," said Rodriguez on the red carpet ahead of the dinner.
"It becomes more important than ever, the work that amfAR does, not only in the research to generate drugs, just the advocacy that they have globally," added the actor.
The United Nations AIDS agency warned in March that there could be 2,000 new HIV infections a day across the world and a ten-fold increase in related deaths if funding frozen by the United States is not restored or replaced.
"It's very disappointing when people are going to die for something they don't have to die from," said Henson, the event's host and actor from "Hidden Figures" and TV series "Empire."
Teri Hatcher, Ed Westwick, Heidi Klum and Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' fiancee, also attended the dinner that featured a performance by pop rockers Duran Duran.
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