Anna Wintour and the creators of Broadway’s TINA—The Tina Turner Musical hosted a cocktail reception to benefit RAINN on January 31. A portion of the proceeds from that evening’s performance of the musical—which tells the story of Tina Turner’s triumphs despite her experience of intimate partner violence—will go towards RAINN’s victim services programs to ensure survivors have access to the support they deserve.
Tali Pelman, Phyllida Lloyd, Katori Hall, and Anna Wintour.
(Photo credit: Tiffany Sage/BFA.com)
“According to RAINN, every 73 seconds another person is assaulted, and eight out of 10 of those are intimate partner violence or somebody that you know…. It’s through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline that trained support specialists are able to speak to survivor 24/7, 365 days out of the year, offering support and directing them to appropriate resources,” said actress and activist Yara Shahidi in her remarks during the event.
Maxine Outerbridge, a member of RAINN’s Speakers Bureau, along with writer and activist Janet Mock, spoke at the event about their experiences with sexual violence.
“My story, like Tina’s, is a depiction of courage, resilience, and hope. But it’s also a stark reminder of the residual impacts of abuse, how critical resources and support are,” said Outerbridge.
Speakers Bureau Member Maxine Outerbridge
shares her story with attendees.
(Photo credit: Tiffany Sage/BFA.com)
“Sometimes it’s not just about courage. Sometimes it’s about resources. I also chose so many times to return back to danger because I wasn’t yet adequately supported, comfortable, or confident in my ability to survive on my own,” Outerbridge continued. “That’s why it’s so important that we’re having this conversation and that we’re supporting such an important cause and organization.”
Mock shared her own story of surviving sexual violence and her wish that she’d had access to RAINN earlier in her healing journey.
“When I was writing my second memoir, Surpassing Certainty, I wrote about my experience with college sexual assault, and I just think about how much more brave, brazen, supported... I would have felt if I knew that RAINN existed. That they had hotlines, that they had resources for survivors. So I just want to lift them up and thank them for their incomparable work.”
Cindy Bruna, Joan Smalls, Yara Shahidi, Adut Akech, Janet Mock, Katori Hall, Phyllida Lloyd, Tali Pelman, and Anna Wintour
at the cocktail reception. (Photo: Tiffany Sage/BFA.com)
Tali Pelman, producer of TINA—The Tina Turner Musical, remarked: “Tina dared to first speak about the domestic abuse she suffered from her husband, Ike Turner, in 1986 when she published her autobiography. That was 34 years ago. It’s extraordinary that it’s only now that we’re witnessing a shift in our society where we are encouraging and actively supporting victims of abuse to speak up.”
Commenting on the evening’s gathering, she said: “It’s to celebrate survival, it’s to celebrate the bravery it takes to speak out, and it’s to celebrate that this is within our individual and collective ability to create change.”
Billy Porter with husband Adam Porter Smith at the event.
(Photo credit: Tiffany Sage/BFA.com)
Among the many guests who enjoyed the reception and show were actor and writer Billy Porter and fashion designer Christian Siriano.
“RAINN is sincerely grateful to Maxine Outerbridge for sharing her story; Anna Wintour and her team at Condé Nast for making this event possible; the cohosts for the evening, Janet Mock, Adut Akech, Cindy Bruna, Yara Shahidi, and Joan Smalls, who showed their dedication to ending sexual violence; and everyone behind TINA—The Tina Turner Musical,” said Andrea Pagano-Reyes, RAINN’s vice president of development.