White House Enlists Hollywood for Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign

John Cho, Josh Hutcherson, Zoe Saldana, Minka Kelly and Nina Dobrev cameo in the "It's On Us" campaign.

The White House is tapping Hollywood to help get out the message on its campaign to raise awareness about sexual assaults on college campuses.

On Tuesday, the effort — called the “It’s On Us” campaign — released a new public service announcement featuring cameos from John Cho, Josh Hutcherson, Haim Sisters, Minka Kelly,Nina Dobrev, Jessica Szohr, Jesse Metcalfe, Rachel Roy, Zoe Saldana, Matt McGorry and Dilshad Vadsaria focusing on “the importance of consent when engaging in sexual activity."

The PSA, called “The One Thing,” comes just a few weeks before the first anniversary of President Barack Obama’s effort to raise awareness about the problem of sexual violence on college campuses around the country.

“The statistics of sexual assault within the LGBT community are shockingly high,” Hutcherson told The Hollywood Reporter. “It's obvious that it's a very serious issue on all accounts but considering my work with Straight But Not Narrow and the LGBT community, It's On Us felt like a great way to help out multiple causes and it felt very natural. Teaming up with the White House makes it an obvious choice knowing it will be handled and cared for in a great way.”

He added: “I really hope this message is well received and people, no matter who they are, can have some more light shed on this sensitive and meaningful topic.”

On Wednesday, Obama’s senior advisor Valerie Jarrett will travel to Los Angeles to deliver opening remarks at the National Sexual Assault Conference, where she will discuss the PSA and the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign.

“Students around the country built ‘It’s On Us’ into a movement last year, with over 300 schools running campaigns, millions of people viewing the PSA’s and sharing the message,” said Kyle Lierman, the White House’s associate director of public engagement. “As we go into the second year of the campaign we’re focusing on a key pillar of the ‘It’s On Us’ pledge, the need to get consent before having sex. This PSA will help spread the word about consent to millions of young people across the country and help expand the coalition.”

The new PSA was spearheaded by marketing agency Mekanism, which worked with the White House in pulling together talent for the spot.

“We wanted to take the campaign to the next level by clearly identifying sexual assault, in that sex without consent is rape,” said Jason Harris, Mekanism CEO and president. “To raise awareness and generate attention for this, there is no better way than through relevant and relatable talent that the millennial audience looks up to.”

Read more at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/