Oprah Winfrey to Deliver Commencement Address for Facebook Event

Oprah Winfrey will be delivering the commencement address for #Graduation 2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020, a multi-hour streaming event airing May 15th on both social media platforms.

The virtual graduation event will honor this year’s seniors whose formal commencement ceremonies have been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X and Simone Biles have also been named as featured speakers for the livestream, with more to be announced. Additionally, Miley Cyrus will deliver a special performance of her song “The Climb.”

#Graduation 2020 will be broadcast on Facebook Watch and available on facebook.com/facebookapp. Segments of the livestream will be posted to the official @Instagram account on Instagram, as well as on contributors’ accounts.

Preceding the official livestream, @Instagram will post graduation-related content beginning on May 11th, featuring senior superlatives and portrait showcases. The Verge reports that the platform itself will be receiving product updates alongside the initiative, including new AR effects and a custom hashtag page for #Graduation2020. Facebook will be utilizing its new Messenger Rooms feature — a competitor to Zoom — with an information page on how to host virtual graduation ceremonies with the video conference software.

The event is produced by B17 Entertainment, with Jane Mun as showrunner. Mun, Rhett Bachner and Brien Meagher serve as executive producers.