Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow Among List of A-List Celebs to Join Cancer Telethon

Taylor Swift and Gwyneth Paltrow are just two of the A-list celebrities set to take part in the third annual Stand Up to Cancer telethon, which aims to raise money and awareness to fight cancer.

Other celebrity telethon appearances will include Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Samuel L. Jackson, and Emma Stone, the Stand Up to Cancer organization announced on Wednesday.

The hour-long event will air commercial-free on Friday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. ET. ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC will broadcast the event, along with over a dozen other cable channels.

Laura Ziskin, who produced a number of films including the hit comedy "Pretty Women," co- founded Stand Up to Cancer along with a number of others including Katie Couric and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Ziskin produced the first two cancer telethons in 2008 and 2010, and passed away from breast cancer in June 2011 at the age of 61.

Executive producer of the 2012 telethon Joel Gallen said, "I can't really replace Laura, but I'm coming from a different point of view, from a respectful point of view, and continuing the mission she was on." 

Swift is set to perform during the event which includes other musical guest appearances by Coldplay, Alicia Keys, and Tim McGraw. According to Gallen, over 25 movie, television, and sports stars will be on hand to take phone pledges throughout the evening.

Gallen states that this year's telethon is centered on the theme of "hope." Stand Up to Cancer, also known as SU2C, will provide information on how to prevent cancer and other facts on SU2C-funded treatment during the broadcast.

Over $180 million of donations have already been pledged to SU2C, with approximately $120 million used towards funding multidisciplinary research "Dream Teams" made up of scientists who hope to find a means to end cancer.

Stand Up to Cancer works with the American Association for Cancer Research, an organization which provides scientific oversight for research projects in conjunction with SU2C.