NBC’s Robert Greenblatt Honored at TrevorLIVE

11:56 AM PST 12/8/2014 by Arlene Washington

AP Images
Katherine Heigl

Host Jennifer Coolidge opened the show by taking shots of NBC’s recent production of 'Peter Pan Live!'

Stars gathered at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday evening for a night of comedy and music, bringing support to The Trevor Project and honoring the accomplishments of NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. Success stories were shared of suicide prevention of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth that moved an audience including Wentworth Miller, Lisa Kudrow, Dan Bucatinsky, Brittany Snow and Kelly Osbourne. 

In honor of Greenblatt, host Jennifer Coolidge opened the show by taking shots of NBC’s recent production of Peter Pan Live! 

“I wanted to audition for the role of Peter Pan but I didn’t have the teeth for it. Can someone please tell me in God’s name what is the strength of Allison Williams’ Crest whitestrips? I mean it was magical," Coolidge said. 

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Named after the Oscar-winning short film Trevor, The Trevor Project aims to provide crisis support to LGBTQ youth, a resource that Emmy-winning TV director Paris Barclay believes is vital in our society. 

“I have two young kids in school now and despite all the efforts bullying is still popular," Barclay told The Hollywood Reporter. "People still call people 'fags.' It still happens even in middle school, and I think there is still education to be done and I think some of it is for the parents because they’re not making this stuff up. The kids are learning it at home. Maybe our next big project is going to be to take that next generation to make sure they understand how important this is to raise our kids right.”

Barclay also commented on how far television has come in addressing these issues, especially with Glee, which is approaching its sixth season. 
 
“I actually think Glee is underrated for its role in kind of changing the whole conversation," Barclay added. "This season I’m in the middle of doing an episode now, and we’re going farther out to really talk about intolerance and how important it is for kids to really take a hard look at themselves. We’ve got nothing to lose. The last 13 episodes are going to be put to the pedal. We’re going to talk about what is this whole thing about misfits, and how do they fit and it’s part of the Trevor Project’s message."

The evening was interspersed with performances from Glee's Darren Criss with Mia Pfirrman (The Voice), Jessica Sanchez (American Idol), Melora Hardin (Transparent) and country star Ty Herndon, who recently came out as gay. Jesse Tyler Ferguson performed his own rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” which later received approval from Swift via Twitter. 

“I learned to not care what people think and to have the courage to be who I wanted to be. Right now I want to be a country-pop crossover sensation,” said Ferguson.

Guests were encourage to text their pledge to donate to The Trevor Project throughout the night. At the request of an audience member, Billy Eichner and Adam Scott kissed onstage for a donation. 

The night’s honorees included artist Skylar Kergil and Yahoo, which has been rated as the best place to work for LGBT employees, according to the HRC Equality Index. State of Affairs’ Katherine Heigl presented the Hero award to her boss, Greenblatt, who has been responsible for bringing LGBT awareness to hit shows including The Voice, Chicago Fire, Six Feet Under, The New Normal and Nurse Jackie. 

Greenblatt admitted he’s still sweating from Peter Pan Live! and responded to Coolidge’s opening remarks. "One way to save time could be to cut the monologue, but I don’t produce the show," the exec said.