LIFETIME GREENLIGHTS NEW ORIGINAL MOVIE, "PRETTY HURTS," STARRING HAYLIE DUFF, SARAH BORNE, AND KACI BARKER PREMIERING JUNE 28 BROUGHT TO YOU BY GSK
MOVIE IS THE TENTPOLE OF GSK'S ASK2BSURE CAMPAIGN
EMPOWERING PARENTS OF TEENS TO ASK THEIR TEEN'S DOCTOR ABOUT MENINGITIS VACCINATION
LOS ANGELES, CA (May 9, 2025) - Lifetime greenlights new original movie, Pretty Hurts, set to premiere on Saturday, June 28 at 8/7c. The film stars Haylie Duff, as Julie, a former beauty pageant winner and now, a mom who alongside her daughter Lauren (Sarah Borne) discovers the ugly truths behind the glamour of the teen pageant world. The film includes a storyline that highlights meningococcal disease, known as meningitis, to help educate parents of teens and young adults about the uncommon, but potentially life-threatening illness for which 16- to 23-year-olds are at increased risk.1.2.3 The film is part of GSK's Ask2BSure public health campaign and is inspired by real families affected by meningitis. GSK provided financial and content support for the film. The storyline sets the stage to highlight the risk of meningitis for this age group, where the bacteria can spread through certain common teen behaviors, including living in close quarters, kissing, and sharing food, drinks and even - lipstick.4.5
In the movie, Lauren , a high school senior, is over the moon when she receives her acceptance letter to her dream university, marking a major step toward her lifelong goal of becoming a doctor. But that excitement quickly fades as she and her parents, including mom, Julie, face the harsh reality of tuition costs. In hopes of winning scholarship money, Lauren makes a decision that goes against everything she promised herself as a child - she enters the same beauty pageant her mother once dominated in her youth. While Julie is eager to relive the glory of her own pageant days and share one last bonding experience with her daughter, Lauren is thrust into a dark, toxic world of cutthroat competition and psychological manipulation, all hidden behind bleached white smiles and rhinestone gowns. Too preoccupied with the pageant, Lauren doesn't realize that her best friend Rae (Kaci Barker) is falling seriously ill with a potentially deadly but vaccine-preventable disease - meningitis B - prompting her to turn the pageant platform into a tool for awareness and education.
The film emphasizes the importance of proactive conversations between parents of teens and their teen's doctor, empowering them to "ask to be sure" about meningitis vaccination against all five vaccine preventable groups of meningitis, A, B, C, W and Y. The film aims to alert moms that while many teens have received vaccination against serogroups A, C, W, and Y, many may be missing vaccination for meningitis B.6
Pretty Hurts is produced by Singer/White Entertainment and Swirl Films for Lifetime, brought to you by GSK. Executive Producers include Sheri Singer from Singer/White Entertainment and Eric Tomosunas from Swirl Films. Brian Herzlinger directs from a script from Lydia Genner.
ABOUT GSK's Ask2BSure Campaign
Ask2BSure aims to educate and empower parents of teens and young adults to start meningitis conversations with their teen's doctors and "ask to be sure" their teen has received vaccination to help protect against all five vaccine-preventable serogroups of meningitis. Vaccination may not protect all recipients. Find out more at Ask2BSure.com.
ABOUT GSK
GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. Find out more at gsk.com and ask2bsure.com.
ABOUT LIFETIME
Celebrating over 40 years of entertaining audiences, Lifetime is a premier entertainment destination for women dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning award-winning movies, high-quality scripted series and breakout non-fiction series. Lifetime has an impressive legacy in public affairs, bringing attention to social issues that women care about with initiatives such as the long running Stop Breast Cancer for Life and Stop Violence Against Women. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of A+E Global Media(TM). A+E Global Media(TM) (aegm.com) is a joint venture of The Walt Disney Company and The Hearst Corporation.
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Risk Factors for Meningococcal Disease. Meningococcal Disease. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/risk-factors/index.html#cdc_risk_factors_who-people-at-increased-risk. Accessed May 2025.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meningococcal Disease Surveillance and Trends. Meningococcal Disease. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/php/surveillance/index.html. Accessed May 2025.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinical Overview of Meningococcal Disease. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/hcp/clinical/index.html. Accessed May 2025.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Meningococcal Disease. Meningococcal Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/index.html. Accessed May 2025.
5. World Health Organization. Meningitis: pp. 1-6, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/meningitis. Accessed May 2025.
6. Pingali C, Yankey D, Chen M, et al. National Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13-17 Years - National Immunization Survey-Teen, United States, 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024; 73:708-714. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7333a1.htm. Accessed May 2025.
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