Rosie O'Donnell to Host FRIENDLY HOUSE LA Comedy Benefit Featuring Kathy Griffin & More

Rosie O'Donnell is set to host an incredible night of comedy to benefit Friendly House LA on Saturday, July 16th, 2022, at The Fonda Theater. The "Stand Up For Friendly House LA" benefit will also feature an array of amazing fierce and funny women including performances from Atsuko Okatsuka, Beth Lapides, Gina Yashere, and headliner Kathy Griffin, with more to be announced.

Friendly House LA is a beloved space which provides a safe, structured and supportive home-like environment that fosters recovery for women seeking recovery from alcohol and other substance abuse disorders. "Over 70 years ago Friendly House was created by one woman with a dream. A dream of a safe space, that would unconditionally love and support women in recovery from addiction. A safe space for women to learn how to love themselves. I am deeply humbled and honored to help this beautiful home in any way I can. And if I can do it with friends while we make people laugh- well, that's a dream of mine." said Rosie O'Donnell.

Tickets for the 600-seat theatre will range from $80 to $150, with all proceeds going directly to Friendly House LA. Presale tickets for AMEX members available May 4 @ 10AM PT thru May 5 @ 10 PM PT. Presale tickets for AEG's Golden Voice members available May 5 @ 10AM to 10 PM PT (password: MOMSROCK). General public tickets on sale May 6 at 10 AM PT. Tickets are available HERE .

Friendly House LA Mission Statement:

The mission of Friendly House LA is to provide women seeking recovery from alcohol and other substance use disorders with a safe, structured and supportive home-like environment that fosters recovery, personal growth and civic responsibility. Our goal is to help each and every client reclaim her dignity and acquire the knowledge, skills, support and resources she will need to maintain a drug-free, purposeful and productive life. As a community-based non-profit organization, our commitment is to extend a helping hand to every qualified applicant who sincerely desires recovery. https://friendlyhousela.org/

BIOS

Atsuko Okatsuka is a comedian, writer, and actor seen on CBS's The Late Late Show with James Corden. VULTURE stated that her set "won late-night" the week that it aired. She is currently a cast member on Stephen Colbert's animated projects Fairview and Washingtonia on Comedy Central and Paramount +.She regularly makes viral videos with her 86-year-old grandmother, such as the Beyonce "DropChallenge" that they accidentally created, which took off and recreated internationally and amassed a viewership of over 7 million. Her comedy has been written about in Paste Magazine, Variety, and The New York Times to name a few, and her debut comedy album "But I Control Me" was featured on NPR's Bullseye with Jesse Thorn as one of the best comedy albums released in 2020

Beth Lapides is the creator and host of UnCabaret(Comedy Central, Amazon Prime) the revolutionary show at the heart of the alt comedy movement. She's the author of Recorded Books' critically acclaimed original audiobook "So You Need To Decide".Her workshops are a hotbed are creativity. She's been seen on Comedy Central, CNN, NPR and in HBO's Sex & The City.

Gina Yashere was born & raised in London UK, of Nigerian parents, and previously worked as an elevator engineer for Otis.

Gina has been a stand up and TV star in the UK for numerous years now, with appearances on iconic TV shows such as Live At The Apollo & Mock The Week, as well as creating & performing the hugely popular comedic characters, Tanya & Mrs. Omokerede on The Lenny Henry Show.
She broke onto the American comedy scene with her appearances on Last Comic Standing (NBC), where she made it to the final 10, and then never went home!

Gina went on to be named one of the top 10 rising talents in the Hollywood Reporter.
She is also known in the US for being the only British comedian to ever appear on the iconic Def Comedy Jam, as well as for her hilarious appearances on The Tonight Show (NBC) & Crashing on HBO.

Gina self produced 3 separate 1 hour Stand Up Specials, Skinny B*tch, Laughing To America, & Ticking Boxes, two of which are currently streaming on Netflix.

Gina's 4th stand up special is also streaming on Netflix, as part of The Stand Ups, season 2, and is garnering rave reviews on the network.

Kathy Griffin is a two-time Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian, a towering figure on television, on tour and in publishing. She is known globally with her universally recognized brand of pull-no-punches comedy. In 2019, Kathy completed her "Laugh Your Head Off" World Tour, which featured sold out performances across the globe including North America, Europe, Australia and Singapore. This worldwide exposure led to her first docu-comedy feature film, "Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story," which debuted in over 700 theaters nationwide on July 31, 2019. The film has been featured in numerous film festivals, receiving critical acclaim. "A Hell of a Story" is now available for digital download on Apple, Amazon, or wherever movies are sold around the world.

Kathy's unrivaled style of humor and prolific comedy pedigree makes her one of television's go-to hosts for premier live events. Kathy drew huge worldwide audiences to CNN's New Year's Eve special, which she co-produced and co-hosted with Anderson Cooper for 10 years. Kathy co-hosted The Billboard Music Awards LIVE three years in a row, the 41st annual Daytime Emmy Awards LIVE and AARP's Movies for Grownups Gala. Griffin's sure-fire hosting success led to her own LIVE late-night talk show, Kathy. Griffin won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her hit reality series, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, which aired for six years on Bravo. It was nominated every single year of its run. The show also won the GLAAD Media Award for Best Reality Program.

Griffin's influence can also be found in publishing. Her boisterous and revealing memoir, Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin, debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Griffin's much-anticipated second book, Kathy Griffin's Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index, was also a New York Times Best Seller. Griffin has been prominently featured on the covers of The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and The Advocate, as well as in-depth profiles in Los Angeles Times, New Your Times, New York Magazine and Forbes.

In addition to performing, writing and producing, Ms. Griffin is a renowned speaker and has taken her empowering messages of equality through activism and humor all over the country. Ms. Griffin's passionate advocacy for women, the LGBT community, and other disenfranchised groups have been displayed through numerous candid and intimate conversations with award-winning journalists and moderators from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, the Hudson Union Society, 92Y, Oxford Union, as well as tech giants Google, AOL, Yahoo! and Buzzfeed.

From penning New York Times best-selling books to filling the country's biggest concert halls on her comedy tours, Griffin has cemented herself as one of the most powerful figures in comedy and a warrior for the First Amendment. Unfiltered, unafraid, and utterly hilarious - she is a must-see for any stand-up fan.

Rosie O'Donnell - Rosie O'Donnell got her start as the winner of the comedy category of Star Search!

Through the years O'Donnell has served as America's best friend, a voice for truth and an inspiration to people of all ages. She was host and executive producer of the critically acclaimed and multiple Emmy Award winning nationally syndicated talk/variety series The Rosie O'Donnell Show, did two co-host stints on ABC's The View and hosted the extremely popular and fun, Sirius/XM show, Rosie Radio.

In 2017-2019 O' Donnell co-starred in the critically acclaimed Showtime show, SMILF.

In 2020 O'Donnell received rave reviews for her portrayal of Lisa Sheffer in the EMMY award winning HBO limited series; I Know This Much Is True and currently is a lead character in Showtime's new show, American Gigolo.

On the big screen, Rosie has starred in A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Another Stakeout, The Flintstones, Exit To Eden, Now and Then, Beautiful Girls, Harriet the Spy, and Wide Awake.

Her stage credits include the Broadway productions of Grease, Seussical, Fiddler on the Roof, Love, Loss and What I Wore, Music Man, and No, No, Nanette.

Rosie produced the Broadway musical starring Boy George, Taboo.

Rosie received an incredible milestone in philanthropy when she was awarded the prestigious Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 2014 TONY Awards for her "...dedication, commitment and unconditional generosity towards arts education and New York City's public schools".

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