The Scandal cast will reunite with show creator Shonda Rhimes for a live script reading fundraiser next month benefitting victims of North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene through United Way North Carolina.
The event is spearheaded by castmember Bellamy Young, who was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. “There were those intervening days where we couldn’t get in touch with people, you didn’t know if the people you loved were alive,” Young told The Hollywood Reporter. “I love my home so much, and I just was just trying to think of anything that I could do to help.”
The virtual event will feature Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Guillermo Diaz, Scott Foley, Katie Lowes, Joshua Malina, Joe Morton, George Newbern, Jeff Perry, Cornelius Smith, Jr. and Darby Stanchfield. Rhimes will open the reading, her producing partner Betsy Beers will narrate and more special guests will be announced soon.
“My sweet Scandal family,” Young said. “We have a very active Scandal WhatsApp thread that pops off daily, and it was really as simple as me just asking there and everyone saying an immediate yes.”
Fans can donate to reserve their spot at www.unitedwaync.org/scandalread. Donations also act as an rsvp to a virtual pre-event with the cast, including an introduction by Rhimes. Plus, one lucky fan will also win the chance to join the cast and play a character in the episode they’ll be reading. (Register at www.prizeo.com/scandal to enter.)
“I picked an episode for us to read in which sort of everything is against us, all seems lost, but we still show up for each other and somehow get through,” Young added. Though the specific episode is still under wraps, she says the special guests might offer some more hints.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the cast of Scandal for their generous support in our efforts to help Western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene,” Brittany Pruitt Fletcher, president and CEO, of United Way of North Carolina,” said in a press release.
For Young, working with United Way is a return to childhood. “They have been a part of my heart and consciousness, particularly in Asheville, my whole life,” she said. “We’re so excited, this project just feels very full-circle, very homecoming.”
The script reading will take place Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. Donate at www.unitedwaync.org/scandalread to reserve your seat.
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