A major LGBTQ awards show set to take place in New York next week has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said.
The GLAAD Media Awards were due to take place on March 19, with prolific TV producer Ryan Murphy and veteran actress Judith Light among those being honoured.
However, the LGBTQ advocacy group said, after speaking with officials in New York over the Covid-19 outbreak, the event had been cancelled.
Given our long-standing commitment to the safety of our members, sponsors, and guests, the #GLAADawards will no longer take place on March 19th in New York City. https://t.co/ejJssOK7az
— GLAAD (@glaad) March 11, 2020
In a statement, GLAAD said it would be in touch with award nominees with plans on how the winners would be announced.
The organisation said it would provide an update “in coming weeks” on the Los Angeles awards show scheduled for April, where Taylor Swift is due to receive the vanguard award.
The GLAAD Media Awards honour media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues, the group says.
It is not the first major entertainment event to be affected by the outbreak.
Earlier this week the California-based Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals were postponed until October, having originally been set to take place in April.
The South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, was cancelled, while producers pushed back the release date of James Bond film No Time To Die from April to November.
And late-night television in the US is also having adapt to the spread of the virus.
The Tonight Show and other late-night talk shows in New York announced they will be recorded without studio audiences.
NBC said it was suspending live audiences for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and Late Night With Seth Meyers, starting on Monday, citing the safety of guests and employees as the “top priority”.