Ty Dolla $ign, Richie Sambora and Rachel Platten performed at the 33rd event, which raised more than $1.8 million for multiple sclerosis research
After a fashion show by L’Agence and a performance by Grammy-nominated singer Ty Dolla $ign (who stepped in when previously announced performer Snoop Dogg was derailed by 405 disruptions), Race to Erase MS founder Nancy Davis took the stage at the nonprofit’s 33rd annual gala on June 5.
Davis founded Race to Erase MS in 1993 following her own diagnosis — at a time when there were few medications or therapies. By pooling doctors together and funding research, Race to Erase MS has helped introduce many new drugs to the market. (“Today, there are over 25 FDA-approved therapies because of you,” Davis noted earlier.) She then presented the Medal of Hope to Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul, EVP of Disney Entertainment Television Communications.
Ty Dolla Sign, Nancy Davis, Founder, Race to Erase MS and Isabella Rickel Credit: Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS
“I have to admit, when Nancy first asked me to do this, I hesitated,” began Bulochnikov-Paul from the podium at the Fairmont Century Plaza ballroom. “Not because I didn’t want to; because I was afraid. Would people look at me differently? Is this bad for my career? Will my kids worry about me? … But I decided I was not going to let MS define me. I’ve spent my entire career in communications; I know how to own a narrative. And I sure as hell was going to own mine.”
Bulochnikov-Paul thanked Davis for being a force of progress. “And for me, personally, a steady source of clarity and calm,” she said. “You taught me to be an advocate and to show people newly diagnosed that MS doesn’t change who you are … even if it does occasionally knock you off your heels. Sometimes, quite literally.”
Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul, EVP, Communications, Disney Entertainment Television; Debra O’Connell, Chairman, Disney Entertainment Television; Dana Walden, President and Chief Creative Officer, The Walt Disney Company and guestCredit: Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS
She then called out Dana Walden, president and chief creative office of the Walt Disney Company: “Even though Dana is one of the busiest people in Hollywood, she came to my first doctor’s appointment with a notebook and a pen like it was the most important meeting of her day,” Bulochnikov-Paul went on. “After the appointment, she asked me if I wanted to take some time off. I said ‘no,’ because what I needed in that moment was normalcy. And what she said next put me on the path that put me here today. She said, ‘MS doesn’t know what’s coming for it.’”
Bulochnikov-Paul then resolved to live her life in the same way she had been. “I was going to keep doing my job, and doing it well,” she said, crediting her doctor, Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl.
Scroll to continue reading
Adam Paul and Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul, EVP, Communications, Disney Entertainment Television and guest Credit: Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS
She concluded, “MS is often invisible, and [for] those of us living with it, it can feel like you’re walking on a tight rope. You don’t know if a relapse is coming, or what it might take from you. But the truth is, that uncertainty isn’t unique to MS. At the end of the day, none of us know what happens tomorrow. All any of us can do is choose how we live. You can live in fear, or you can live in power … every day, I choose the latter.”
The event hosted by The Bachelor‘s Jesse Palmer also included a live auction; a dance performance by Dancing with the Stars professionals Alan Bersten and Emma Slater; and musical performances by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Richie Sambora and Rachel Platten.
Models walk the runway during the 33rd Annual Race To Erase MS GalaCredit: Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS)
In addition to putting on the fashion show, L’Agence (and fashion director Tara Rudes Dannes) also dressed several attendees, including Davis, Bulochnikov-Paul, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Ashley Benson, Jenna Dewan, Jaime King, Kathy Hilton, Natalie Alyn Lind, Hilary Shor, Alexandra Lasky and more.
Jeff Rudes, Hilary Shor and Tara Rudes Dann Credit: Presley Ann/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS)
The night — which raised over $1.8 million for MS treatment and research — concluded with a group sing-along to “Lean on Me,” per the gala’s tradition.
But first, Platten sang her popular anthem “Fight Song” — with Bulochnikov-Paul and Davis sitting beside her, on either side of the grand piano.
Belted Platten: “‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me.”
Nancy Davis, Founder, Race to Erase MS, Rachel Platten and Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul, EVP, Communications, Disney Entertainment TelevisionCredit: Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Race to Erase MS