Karine Jean-Pierre Set For Outfest’s Inaugural Achievement Award For Press And Media

deadline.com:

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been set to receive Outfest’s inaugural Achievement Award for Press and Media, the L.A.-based nonprofit’s highest honor, celebrating representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the media.

She’ll claim the prize during the Closing Night of the 41st Outfest Los Angeles Summer Festival this Sunday, July 23rd. The news comes shortly after the announcement that Jean-Pierre’s fellow Outfest honorees Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have backed out of attending the festival to pick up their James Schamus Ally Award, recognizing their support and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community, amidst the SAG-AFTRA strike. “We understand that Melissa and Ben are unable to join us for our closing night due to the strike,” said Outfest Executive Director Damien Navarro in a statement. “We will miss them, as our closing night will be a wonderful celebration of our community.” The establishing of the Achievement Award for Press and Media comes amidst a new level of investment in journalism on the part of Outfest, which recently launched its Outfest Inclusive Press Initiative for LGBTQ+ entertainment journalists.

The program offers up-and-coming film critics, broadcasters and journalists unrestricted access to cover the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival, as well as a stipend and mentorship from reporters at such outlets as Reuters, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and KABC-TV, to name just a few.

Fellows participating this year include Gisselle Palomera, Jireh Deng, Joey Harvey, Kayla Thompson, Kelsey Brown, Kristian Fanene Schmidt, Lindsay Lee Wallace, Marcus’Anthony II, Ose Ehianeta Arheghan, Eli Press-Reynolds and Shahamat Mohammed Uddin.