Stars perform at Beverly Hills fundraiser for Orlando shooting victims

Amy Powell Image
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Stars perform at Beverly Hills fundraiser for Orlando shooting victims
A music-filled tribute and fundraiser for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting massacre in Beverly Hills included performances by several stars, including "Frozen's" Kristen Bell.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- A music-filled tribute and fundraiser for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting massacre in Beverly Hills included performances by several stars, including "Frozen's" Kristen Bell.

Celebrities performed to lift spirits and help the victims of the worst mass shooting in the nation's history.

Actresses Kristen Bell and Marissa Jaret Winokur sang on Broadway for Orlando's recording of "What the World Needs Now is Love." Proceeds were expected to go to the LGBT center in Florida.

"I think after bad things happen, it is exactly the right time for good people, who I still believe are the majority of people in the world, to stand up for what they believe in," Bell stated.

Forty-nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub called Pulse. The pain of that tragedy was personal for actor and activist Wilson Cruz.

One of Cruz's relatives died while shielding her 21-year-old son from the bullets.

"My step-aunt - who had a son who had just recently come out - she was there to share an evening with her son and his boyfriend so that they could be their authentic selves in that moment and she could be there with them," an emotional Cruz said.

Audiences attending the benefit, put together by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, enjoyed musical performances, but the goal of the event was to support the victims in Florida and their families. Many were struggling financially in the wake of the tragedy.

"There's a lot of people waiting for funding," Winokur said. "There's a lot of people that can't pay their hospital bills. There's a lot of people, like families, who can't pay for funerals. I mean, it's devastating."