Airs Monday, October 26th with hosts Eva Longoria, Gloria Estefan, and Ricky Martin

CBS announced a new one-hour entertainment special, Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event Event, a celebration of Latinx culture in America, produced and hosted by Eva Longoria, along with Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin, to be broadcast Monday, Oct. 26 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. It will also be available to stream live and on demand on CBS All Access. Produced by Funny Or Die, in partnership with Momento Latino, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Global Philanthropy, the special will honor the contributions of the Latinx community to the United States and their importance to its future.

Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event will celebrate America’s diversity with a focus on Latinx culture, bringing joy, awareness and aid to the Latinx community that has been deeply impacted by and played an essential role in fighting COVID-19. Through musical performances, comedy pieces, docu-shorts and star-studded appearances, the special will explore the Latinx experience as told by Latinx voices. Performers and participants will be announced closer to air.

““The Latinx community has been the backbone of this country for hundreds of years, not just the last seven months, and it’s time that we not only know our own worth, but are also recognized, appreciated and celebrated accordingly for our contributions, pandemic or not,” said Longoria. “When COVID-19 hit the United States, people were quick to applaud our essential workers, many of whom are Latinos, for helping to keep food on our tables, delivering our packages and working in our healthcare system.”

Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event Event is created by Henry R. Muñoz III. The special is produced by Funny Or Die, Momento Latino, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and Global Philanthropy. Executive producers are Henry Muñoz for Momento Latino; Longoria and Ben Spector for UnbeliEVAble Entertainment; Maggie Neilson for Global Philanthropy; and Mike Farah, Joe Farrell, Jim Ziegler, Moira Noriega, Gloria Medel Solomons and R.A. Clark for Funny Or Die. The special is directed by Ron de Moraes.

“We created Momento Latino because we understand the challenges that Latinos in America face every day, and we knew we had to bring together a national infrastructure of opportunity to move the community forward into the future,” said Muñoz III, founder of Momento Latino. “We’ve brought together more than 130 organizations, nonprofits, artists, activists and community leaders so far, and through this special we can share with the nation the inspiring stories of how Latinos served as the backbone of this country’s essential workforce throughout the pandemic despite being among the hardest hit by the disease and the economic fallout.”

Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment’s recently partnered ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group for their First Time Directors program highlighting BIPOC and women filmmakers to produce 50 films across the group’s portfolio of networks and streaming services. Soon UnbeliEVAble will produce Before I Forget for Amazon, the multi-generational drama Chicano centering on a Mexican-American family that immigrates to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American Dream for ABC, and the HBO film A Class Apart, with Robert Rodriguez directing, which tells the incredible true story of a group of Mexican Americans fighting for their civil rights during a landmark case that leads all the way to the Supreme Court. Past projects from UnbeliEVAble include the Emmy Award nominated Netflix documentary Reversing Roe, ESPN’s 30 for 30 series Versus, and the Lionsgate film John Wick

Momento Latino is a growing coalition of activists, leaders, nonprofits and artists lifting our voices and pushing for change for the Latinx community. COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated longstanding inequalities, and has had a disproportionate effect on the Latino community’s health, education and economic stability. But with crisis comes opportunity: together, we can create real change. Our partners – more than 130 activists, artists, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups and corporate leaders – are working together to build an America where the Latinx community can reach out full potential. For more information, visit https://momentolatino.us/ and follow us on Instagram at @momento_latino.

CHEAT TWEET: @EvaLongoria produces and hosts MOMENTO LATINO with co-hosts @GloriaEstefan and @ricky_martin, a new 1-hour special that’s a celebration of Latinx culture in America, to air 10/26 9PM ET/PT #CBS! https://bit.ly/36z3cfP

RATING: To Be Announced

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