GLAAD: Janet Jackson to be Honored at 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles

Lauded Talk-Show Host Ellen DeGeneres to Present Award

Los Angeles, April 1, 2008 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced today that Academy Award® nominee and Grammy® Award-winning singer Janet Jackson will be honored with the Vanguard Award at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. The national media advocacy and anti-defamation organization also announced today that multiple Emmy® Award-winning talk show host Ellen DeGeneres will present Ms. Jackson with her award. Ms. DeGeneres was the recipient of the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 1998.

“We are delighted to honor Janet Jackson at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles as such a visible, welcoming and inclusive ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community,” said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. “Ms. Jackson has a tremendous following inside the LGBT community and out, and having her stand with us against the defamation that LGBT people still face in our country is extremely significant.”

Giuliano added, “We are also thrilled that Ellen DeGeneres, a former GLAAD Media Award honoree, will present the Vanguard Award to Ms. Jackson. Any time a media legend like Ms. DeGeneres wants to share in our celebration of fair, accurate and inclusive media representation, we are honored to have her.”

"I have received a number of awards throughout my career but I am so proud to be receiving the Vanguard Award from GLAAD,” said Jackson. “Since it's inception in 1985, GLAAD has taken the lead in making sure that people will no longer be judged by their gender identity or sexual orientation. I applaud them for their continued work and thank them for this honor from the bottom of my heart."

The Vanguard Award is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Past recipients include Charlize Theron, Antonio Banderas, Eric McCormack, Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli and Whoopi Goldberg.

Janet Jackson has been a long-time ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. In 1997, the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum applauded her use of sexual orientation themes in her top-selling album, The Velvet Rope, which received the award for Outstanding Music Album at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Jackson has also been awarded for her work with AIDS activism by the AIDS Project Los Angeles and the Human Rights Campaign.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.

GLAAD Media Awards nominees were published, released or broadcast between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Nearly 1,000 media projects are being considered in 26 English-language and 16 Spanish-language categories. More than 5,000 people attended last year’s 18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and South Florida, raising more than $3 million for the organization's media advocacy and anti-defamation work on behalf of the LGBT community and its allies.

Additional ceremonies for the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards will be held in South Florida on April 12 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino; and in San Francisco on May 10 at the San Francisco Marriott. The 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards are co-presented nationally by ABSOLUT® Vodka and IBM and in Los Angeles by AT&T and Harrah’s Foundation.