The event will be hosted by Elton John, David Furnish, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burkta, with an after-party performance by Lola Young
As Los Angeles gears up for Oscars weekend, one event stands out from the long list of planned festivities: the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Academy Awards Viewing Party.
Hosted by Elton John and his husband, Canadian filmmaker David Furnish, alongside Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, this year’s event celebrates art and filmmaking while raising money for the foundation’s lifesaving work.
The night will also feature an after-party performance by British artist Lola Young, who won her first Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance at last month’s awards ceremony.
“It’s been incredible getting to know Elton and David, and I’m grateful for the support they’ve shown my music,” Young said. “Their work to support communities who need it most is so important to me, and I’m proud to be part of a night that helps make a meaningful impact.”
Established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation is a leader in the global response to HIV and AIDS. Since its founding, the foundation has raised more than $650 million to support over 3,100 projects focused on expanding access to health care, reducing stigma toward LGBTQ+ individuals and ending the AIDS epidemic.
Furnish, who has worked on films including Rocketman and It’s a Boy Girl Thing, serves as chair of the foundation alongside healthcare executive Tani Austin.
The viewing party, taking place this Sunday ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, marks the foundation’s 34th annual event.
Anne Aslett, CEO of EJAF, and David Furnish speak onstage during the 2023 Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Academy Awards Viewing PartyCredit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation
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Ahead of the festivities, Los Angeles sat down with the foundation’s chief executive officer, Anne Aslett, OBE. She plays a critical role in ensuring the nonprofit’s efforts align with its broader mission and helps coordinate planning for the annual Academy Awards viewing party.
Q: You began your career in print journalism and documentary filmmaking before moving into the nonprofit world. What drew you to philanthropy, and ultimately to the foundation?
A: My path here wasn’t planned. It was personal. My middle brother was gay and was diagnosed with HIV, as were so many of his friends.
What I carried from years in journalism and documentary filmmaking was a deep curiosity to understand an issue and a deep belief that the right story, told at the right moment, moves people to act. This became that story.
In the beginning, my motivation was simple: I wanted to save him, and then everyone around him. After he passed away, that only deepened my resolve. Nearly two decades later, the motivation is exactly the same. Reach one more person, then another, until we finally bring this epidemic to an end.
Q: The foundation’s Academy Awards Viewing Party is both a celebration and a mission-driven evening. What does this event mean to you personally?
A: This evening means everything to me, because I know what it funds. Every year, I walk into that room thinking about the people we serve: the young person in the U.S. South who finally has access to PrEP, the community in Nigeria receiving care through a local pharmacy, the person in a country where simply being who you are is criminalized.
The glamour is real, and it is wonderful. But what moves me is knowing that every person in that room is choosing to show up for people they will likely never meet. That is philanthropy at its most powerful.
David Furnish and Anne AslettCredit: Sarah M Lee
Q: I’m fascinated by the foundation’s international work, especially its partnership with Zipline in Nigeria. Can you share how that collaboration came about and the impact you’re seeing on the ground?
We backed Zipline in 2023 because we saw what traditional supply chains could not solve. Stigma, distance, and broken infrastructure were keeping people from the care that existed.
Drone delivery changed that equation entirely. We were Zipline’s first philanthropic partner in Kenya, and since then, the numbers have been remarkable.
More than 125,000 people have been reached with HIV interventions, and nearly 100,000 antiretrovirals have been delivered by drone. When the U.S. State Department recently awarded Zipline $150 million to triple its network, from 5,000 to 15,000 health facilities, that validated everything we believed when we made that early bet.
Our role was to prove the model. Now the world is scaling it.
Q: Since we’re celebrating Women’s Month in March, I have to ask: aside from your own mother, who is a woman who has inspired you in your life or career?
There have been so many! So many extraordinary women scientists, like Mathilda Krim, champions like Elizabeth Taylor, and philanthropists like MacKenzie Scott and Melinda Gates.
Right now, I’m trying to channel Maya Angelou, who always advocated to be unapologetically yourself: be proud, be brave and leave the world better than you found it.
Q: Looking ahead, what’s next for the Elton John AIDS Foundation?
What we are focused on is simple: finishing what we started. The science has never been more promising, the technology has never been more powerful, and our understanding of what communities need has never been sharper.
Our LGBTQ+ programs are expanding into some of the most challenging environments in the world, because we know that you cannot end AIDS without protecting the communities most affected by it.
We will not be deterred by rising stigma or shrinking global commitment. If anything, that makes our work more urgent and our resolve stronger.
The end of AIDS is not a dream. It is a destination. And we intend to get there.
Anne Aslett and David Furnish at the 2025 Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Annual Academy Awards Viewing PartyCredit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation