Courteney Cox, Kaley Cuoco and Jimmy Kimmel were just a few of the celebs who came out Saturday night for Rock4EB.
The annual event returned after being on hiatus for three years due to COVID. The evening, which included a stand-up set by Kevin Nealon and a performance from Brandi Carlile and was hosted by Judd Apatow, raised more than $1 million for EB MRF, an organization co-founded by talent manager Andrea Pett-Joseph to support research for rare chronic skin disease epidermolysis bullosa. Pett-Joseph’s son, Brandon, has the condition.
“Come here and get perspective at this event,” Cuoco told PvNew. “I’ve known Brandon since he was very young and I’ve seen all the ups and downs they’ve gone through and he’s so positive. They’re really trying to get the message out and find a cure for this. They’re using their voice for good. They’re very special people and I hope Brandon lives a very very long healthy life. If I had any wish, I would wish for that.”
Held at the Malibu home of manager Marc Gurvitz, the benefit featured included silent and live auctions. The guest list also included Tiffany Haddish, Billie Lourd, Bryan Lourd, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Ed O’Neill, David Spade and Cynthia Pett-Dante. Dana Carvey made a surprise appearance on stage while Cox introduced Carlile’s set.
“We’ve been meeting so many EB families over the years,” Pett-Joseph told PvNew. “Sadly, a lot of these children have passed away since we’ve known them. That’s the most heartbreaking thing. You know them and see them every year but then that’s the terrible part of this disease.”
She noted that research has gone to developing treatments that improve the quality of life for many living with EB. “That’s what the treatments really focus on, treating the wounds so that people with EB can go out, they can put their shirt on and do things that they may never have been able to do before,” Pett-Joseph said. “But it doesn’t change how taxing the disease is on the body. It takes everything out of the body. Every calorie is used to heal a wound, every source of nutrition gets absorbed. It’s a very tough disease because the pain doesn’t stop.”
The night’s menu included stations with offerings from Wally’s, Nobu, Factor’s Deli, D’Amores Pizza, Pink’s, CasaVega, Lucky’s, Broad Street Oyster Co., Shappy Pretzel Co., Craig’s, Great Taste Catering, Spartina, Jennifer Naylor and libations from Hall Napa Valley, Walt, Zen WTR, Crystal Head Vodka and Coffee Been & Tea Leaf.
For more information on EB, go to ebmrf.org.
Check out photos from the event below.
Courteney Cox and Johnny McDaid attend Rock4EB on May 6 in Malibu.
