Celebrities Urge People To Stop Using The "R" Word

Celebrities & Special Olympics Bocce Athletes joined together for the Southern California’s inaugural Celebrity Bocce Tournament held on the lawn at the historic Culver Studios, where all proceeds benefited the Special Olympics Southern California, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

This inaugural event saw guests, athletes and celebrities strolling the lawn dressed in white attire while eating and drinking One Hope Wine, while asking the world to “Spread the Word to End the Word.” It was just one such event encouraging people to stop and think before using the disparaging and hurtful word: ‘retard.’ To learn more, please visit www.r-word.org.

The participating Bocce teams were each comprised of four players, one celebrity and one Special Olympics Bocce Athlete as team captain. KCAL9 News Anchor Pat Harvey and Olympic Decathlon Gold Medallist Rafer Johnson served as the events co-chairs, while the event’s emcee was Jesse “Boy Toy” Lozano of KIIS-FM.

Participating celebrities who would like you to think twice before the using the ’Word" included: Joe Mantegna, John Ratzenberger, Kristy Swanson, Matthew Gray Gubler, Victor Alfieri, Yvette Nicole Brown, Maureen McCormick, Jeremy Ratchford, Brandon Molale, Jimmy Jean Louis, Sunny Mabrey, Jason Dolley, Ethan Embry, AJ Michalka, Anthony Anderson, Jillian Claire, Marta McGonagle, Danielle Petty, Nancy LaScala, DB Freeman, Andrea Freedman, Lloyd Eisler and Anya Monzikova.

Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) offers year-round sports training and athletic competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and closely-related developmental disabilities. All programs are free to the athletes and their families. By instilling lifelong habits of physical fitness and influencing each athlete’s willingness to accept new challenges, Special Olympics changes lives. Many new doors are opened as athletes build on their athletic successes and gain the courage to try new things in all areas of their lives- classroom, workplace, home and the community. For additional information, please visit www.sosc.org.