Today BET announces comedian and actor Anthony Anderson as the fourth host of the upcoming “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT,” special. Anderson joins stars Kelly Rowland, Terrence J, and Regina Hall as host for the two-hour special broadcast. “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT,” is set to air on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 8 PM EDT.

Performances include Alicia Keys with a special tribute to New York City, and a Gospel moment with Kirk Franklin featuring Fantasia, Jonathan McReynolds, Kelly Price, Tasha Cobbs, Le’Andria Johnson, and Melvin Crispell III. Exclusive performances by John Legend, Usher, Jhene Aiko, Chloe X Halle, CeeLo Green, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Swae Lee, Tyrese Gibson, Buju Banton, DJ D-Nice, SiR, D Smoke, and Charlie Wilson.

Additional celebrity guest appearances will include Tiffany Haddish, Idris Elba, Ciara, Don Cheadle, Mike Epps, Deon Cole, Angela Rye, Dr. Rheeda Walker, Charlamagne Tha God, Symone D. Sanders, DJ Khaled and Chance The Rapper.

Expanding the reach of the telecast, BET will simulcast the special across BET and BET Her domestically, as well as their channels internationally bringing awareness to over 90 million homes. Additionally, BET will join forces with Bounce to help expand the audience to include free, over-the-air broadcast viewers with Bounce simulcasting “SAVING OUR SELVES: A BET COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT.”

Addressing the communities around the world, a global check-in segment for “BET SAVING OUR SELVES: COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT” will highlight how various regions around the globe are coping through COVID-19. BET Breaks’ International talent Nomalanga (South Africa), Flora Coquerel (France), and Jourdan Riane (UK) will report on how the pandemic is affecting their countries. British Hip Hop Artists behind the viral “Don’t Rush” social media challenge, Young T and Bugsy, and Idris Elba’s wife, Sabrina Elba, will make appearances as well. Internationally, the show will be broadcast on Saturday, April 25 in the UK at 9:00 pm BST, Korea at 9:00 pm KST, Africa at 6:00 pm CAT, and France at 10:30 pm CEDT.

The focus of the initiatives is to combat the racial disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent findings have shown that Black Americans are being disproportionately harmed by the health and financial devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. BET, in partnership with the NAACP, United Way Worldwide, leaders in the African American creative, civil rights and business communities will provide critical financial, educational and community support directly to the African Americans hardest hit by this crisis. Corporate brand donors who have generously contributed to the fund include Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Toyota, Salesforce, McDonald’s, AARP, Pine-Sol®, Morgan Stanley, TJ Maxx, Weight Watchers, and NBA.

You can now donate to the fund online via BET.com or by texting BETGives to 51555. More information on BET’s partnership with UWW and additional extensions of our relief efforts are forthcoming. For further details, please visit BET.com/COVID19.

About BET

BET, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news, and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel is in 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa, and France. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET’s growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

About United Way

United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. Supported by 2.9 million volunteers, 9.8 million donors worldwide and $4.7 billion raised every year, United Way is the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit. We’re engaged in 1,800 communities across more than 40 countries and territories worldwide to create sustainable solutions to the challenges facing our communities. United Way partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith-based organizations, along with educators, labor leaders, health providers, senior citizens, students and more. For more information about United Way, please visit UnitedWay.org. Follow us on Twitter: @UnitedWay and #LiveUnited.

About BOUNCE

Bounce (@bouncetv) is the popular multi-platform entertainment network targeting African Americans, with programming seen over-the-air, on cable, on DISH channel 359, over-the-top on Roku®, on mobile devices via the Bounce and Brown Sugar apps and on the web via BounceTV.com. Bounce features a programming mix of original series and movies, off-network series, theatrical motion pictures, specials, live sports and events and more. Bounce is part of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).