"I don't know about you, but even while I'm stuck at home, I can't help but feel I want to be doing more to help," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. He said all proceeds from a presidential-adjacent picture book and a new coronavirus social distancing T-shirt would go to two charities helping people hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and then he took a video call from Lady Gaga, the driving force behind a two-hour TV concert announced Monday with the World Health Organization and the advocacy group Global Citizen.
The "One World: Together at Home" concert will air on ABC, CBS, and NBC from 8-10 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, and Stephen Colbert is one of the three hosts, along with Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. Gaga listed some of the musicians who will be performing from their homes — Chris Martin, John Legend, Elton John, Lizzo, Paul McCartney — and said some of the Sesame Street cast will join in, too. "Oh, that's fantastic," Colbert said. "You know, a Muppet can be used as a face mask in an emergency."
Along with the Muppets, Gaga told Fallon on The Tonight Show, there will be artists, athletes, actors, and "a lot of other things that are going to be different and exciting." Her goal for the concert, she said, is "to highlight this global, kind community that's coming together right now," "marvel at the bravery" of the medical community, and "show lots of acts of kindness." Gaga listed some of the donors who have jointly pledged $35 million to the effort, then surprise-FaceTime'd Apple CEO Tim Cook to confirm Apple's $10 million donation.
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Gaga read some of the other confirmed artists on Kimmel Live: Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Bille Eilish, Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, and Stevie Wonder, among others. "Are you sure you've got room for us on this show?" Kimmel asked. "I feel like we're gonna be nothing more than a letdown." Gaga laughed nervously: "Please don't do that." She explained that the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund will spend the donated money to get supplies to medical workers, expand testing, and boost 10 biotech firms researching vaccines. Peter Weber
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