Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 is an American television special that was simulcasted on the major television networks and online on May 16, 2020. Created by the XQ Institute, the LeBron James Family Foundation, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the special was curated by basketball player LeBron James in collaboration with high school students and educators across the United States, including the American Federation of Teachers. The broadcast included a variety of commencement addresses, celebrity performances and inspirational vignettes aimed at high school students, whose graduation ceremonies and proms were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to it causing the closure of most schools worldwide.[2][3]
| Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Benefit performance[1] |
| Created by |
|
| Presented by | LeBron James |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original languages | English Spanish |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | LeBron James Brian Gott |
| Production location | Virtual |
| Running time | 57 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | multi-network simulcast |
| Release | May 16, 2020 |
Appearances
edit- LeBron James, host
- Zendaya, actress
- Kevin Hart, actor
- Yara Shahidi, actress
- Kane Brown & Maren Morris, singer
- Timothée Chalamet, actor
- Rodney Robinson, educator
- Megan Rapinoe, athlete
- Bad Bunny, singer
- Jwalt, rapper
- Kumail Nanjiani, actor (via Animal Crossing)
- Olivia Wilde, actor
- Malala Yousafzai, activist
- Lena Waithe, screenwriter
- Julianne Moore, actress
- Shaquille O'Neal, athlete
- Chris Harrison, television personality
- Dave Matthews, musician
- Loren Gray, singer
- The Dolan Twins, internet personalities
- Lana Condor, actress
- Liza Koshy, actress
- Pharrell Williams, singer
- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States
Students
editPerformances
edit| Artist(s) | Song(s) |
|---|---|
| Students of the Class of 2020 | "Star-Spangled Banner" |
| Dua Lipa | "Break My Heart" |
| Ben Platt Henry Platt Jonah Platt |
Graduation Medley "Memories" / "Graduation (Friends Forever)" "In My Life" "See You Again" "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" |
| Alicia Keys | "Underdog" |
| Chika Brandan "Bmike" Odums |
"Crown" |
| H.E.R. | "Sometimes" |
| YBN Cordae | "Broke as F**k" |
| Jonas Brothers Karol G |
"X" |
Broadcast
editThe special was simulcasted on May 16, 2020, at 8pm EST on the major U.S. broadcast television networks ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, except PBS due to flex programming on member stations over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.[2] It was also simulcasted on television networks California Music Channel and The CW, on Spanish-language network Univision, and on cable networks CNN, Fox Business, Fox News, Freeform, and MSNBC.[1][4] It was also available for streaming in platforms such as ABC News Live, Associated Press, Bleacher Report, Complex Networks, Facebook, FoxNow, Hulu, Instagram, NBC News Now, NowThis News, PeopleTV, The Roku Channel, Roland Martin Unfiltered, Reuters, Sirius XM, Snapchat, TikTok, USO, The Washington Post, and YouTube.[3][1][4]
Viewership
editUnited States
edit| Network | Viewers (million)[5] |
|---|---|
| ABC | 2.233 |
| NBC | 2.203 |
| MSNBC | 2.003 |
| CNN | 1.879 |
| CBS | 1.836 |
| FNC | 0.977 |
| Fox | 0.659 |
| The CW | 0.367 |
| Freeform | 0.211 |
Broadcast network
Cable network
Total Viewership = 14.674
References
edit- ^ a b c "GRADUATE TOGETHER: AMERICA HONORS THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2020, A Graduation Tribute to Our Nation's High School Seniors, to Air Saturday, May 16 at 8 P.M. ET/PT, 7 P.M. CT". BusinessWire. April 29, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c "LeBron James to honor Class of 2020 with all-star event". Education Week. New York NY. Associated Press. April 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ a b c Tapp, Tom (April 30, 2020). "LeBron James Leading Live All-Star 'Graduate Together' Tribute To Class Of 2020 Airing As Primetime TV Special". Deadline. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ a b King, John Paul (May 14, 2020). "America's Class of 2020 to 'Graduate Together' in special broadcast event". Los Angeles Blade. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 19, 2020). "Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.16.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
