Celebrities line up for cancer telethon on 3 networks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The competition among TV networks, movie studios and A-list stars can be fierce, but the fight against cancer will unite them on Sept. 5.

More than 60 celebrities will participate in Stand Up to Cancer, a live fund- and awareness-raising television special that will air simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS.

Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, Jack Black, Sheryl Crow, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Garner, Diane Keaton, Rob Lowe, Sharon Osbourne, Keanu Reeves and Carrie Underwood are among the stars set to appear, it was announced Wednesday.

They’ll join previously announced participants including Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, Lance Armstrong, America Ferrera, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron and Forest Whitaker.

The celebrities, along with network news anchors Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, will deliver an evening of “edutainment,” said executive producer Laura Ziskin, a cancer survivor who helped establish the event and the nonprofit group behind it.

“There will be laughter. There will be tears. And you’ll learn something about how we can turn the outcome of this disease if we just set our minds to it,” Ziskin said.