Citing COVID-19, HBO Cancels Emmy Awards Reception at the PDC

West Hollywood isn’t famed just for its annual LA Pride Parade and Festival (now cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and its Halloween Carnaval (which is likely to be cancelled).  The city also is host to a number of Hollywood events such as the HBO’s Emmy Awards reception, which the network has announced will be cancelled this year.  The reception typically takes place on the plaza at the Pacific Design Center on San Vicente Boulevard.

HBO President Casey Bloys announced that the network would contribute the money it typically spends on the event to the Mayors Fund for Los Angeles’s L.A. Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund.   That fund is intended to provide help to families and small businesses and homeless people affected by the pandemic as well as relief and equipment for healthcare workers.

The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is still scheduled to take place on Sept. 20, however the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced that it is suspending all of its For Your Consideration events. 

The HBO event is one of the most popular Emmy parties, so popular that it requires the closing of San Vicente Boulevard from Santa Monica to Melrose during the event, and it has a spill-over effect on celebrity restaurants in the area such as Craig’s.  Last year it was rebranded as the WarnerMedia and HBO PostAwards Reception to add the TNT and TBS networks to the mix.

Another popular event staged at the PDC is the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party, https://ejaf.org/2020-academy-awards-viewing-party/ which has raised millions of dollars each year for the foundation. ejaf.org.  This year’s event took place on Feb. 10, weeks ahead of official declarations of COVID-19 infections as a pandemic.