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Renée Zellweger’s Personal Reason for Supporting ALS Association

Actor Renée Zellweger, who of course, makes a living using her voice to portray characters — most recently in the brand-new biopic, Judy, about the late showbiz star Judy Garland — has bee

Renée Zellweger’s Personal Reason for Supporting ALS Association

By Karen Bliss

Actor Renée Zellweger, who of course, makes a living using her voice to portray characters — most recently in the brand-new biopic, Judy, about the late showbiz star Judy Garland — has been involved with the ALS Association for almost five years now, most recently for the #VoiceYourLove campaign.


Losing the ability to speak is one of ALS’s most debilitating symptoms.

“A friend of mine who was my PR person for a very long time started to show signs about six years ago, and then was diagnosed five years ago,” Zellweger told Samaritanmag while in Toronto recently to promote Judy. “She's pretty much unable to communicate. She can move her eyes with a great deal of effort.”

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ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, eventually causing paralysis. The average life expectancy is two to five years after diagnosis, but some, like guitarist Jason Becker, have lived more than two decades, and the late Stephen Hawking, diagnosed at 21, died last year at 76. They both defy the norm.

The #VoiceYourLove challenge is two-fold: to get donations and for people to voice their love for the people in their lives who they’ve lost to ALS or are still fighting. The site includes a section to upload your story and add a photo or video.

In the one-minute PSA, made earlier this year, we see Zellweger with her friend, Nanci Ryder, who is in a wheelchair. Zellweger kisses her forehead, and chats with her, showing her something on her phone, and gently removes a hair or piece of fluff from Ryder's eyelid and adjusts her shirt. – Continue reading Karen Bliss’s interview feature here.

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Kaytranada at the 67th GRAMMY Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores

Kaytranada at the 67th GRAMMY Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.

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Kaytranada Wants Fans to Dance at Shows: ‘If You Put Your Phone Up, Let’s Move Them Hips at Least!’

"It looks mad awkward from where I stand," he said of seeing phones at his performances.

Kaytranada isn’t the biggest fan of how audiences choose to enjoy live shows in the age of smartphones and social media.

Over the weekend, the Montreal-based producer responded to a fan on X who apologized on behalf of “real fans” who dance at his shows as opposed to “standing still” in order to capture content for their social media pages. “Kaytranada, I am so sorry you got TikTok famous and now bastards are standing still during ‘Intimidated,’ ‘Freefall,’ ‘Vex Oh,’ ‘You’re the One,'” the fan wrote. “What the f—k is going on??? All points was I miss you @kaytranada please do some private show for the real fans because I can’t take this no more.”

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