Vogue editor Anna Wintour, U2 frontman Bono and billionaire George Soros are among those to receive America’s highest civilian honor from outgoing President Joe Biden.
This year, the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be awarded to 19 people, including cultural icons, politicians and activists.
They were chosen because they are “good people who have made an outstanding contribution to their country and the world,” the White House said.
Biden will present the medals at the White House at a ceremony on Saturday.
Bonowhose real name is Paul David Hewson, has already been awarded France’s highest cultural award and received an honorary knighthood.
He is known for his anti-poverty campaigns and support for people with HIV/AIDS.
Wintourone of fashion’s most significant players, he has served as Vogue’s editor-in-chief since 1988 and has helped raise more than $20 million for AIDS research, among other charities.
She too collected money for UK arts organizations after funding cuts in 2022
Billionaire, philanthropist and top Democrat donor George Soros and American politician Hillary Clinton are also among the recipients.
In 2018, Soros, a financier born in Hungary, he was one of the prominent critics of Donald Trump who was targeted by the bombers.
Clinton, a former US secretary of state, will receive the award just weeks before her former political rival is sworn in as president. She lost to Trump in the 2016 election.
Cultural luminaries – including actors Denzel Washington and Michael J Fox – will receive a medal with a football star Lionel Messiretired Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Earvin “Magic” Johnson and fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
Founder of the American Film Institute George Stevens Jr and former president of the Kennedy Center David Rubinstein are among the cohorts receiving medals.
Other recipients are a humanitarian and a chef José Andréswhose central world kitchen helped provide food for civilians in war zones and areas affected by natural disasters; recognized British conservator Jane Goodall and scientific pedagogue Bill Nye.
Former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedyformer Minister of Defense Ash Cartercivil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer and former governor of Michigan George W Romney he will receive the award posthumously.
Established under former President John F Kennedy, the medal is awarded at the discretion of the President on the advice of an external advisory board.
Previous winners of the award include the most decorated gymnast of all time Simone Biles, Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh and Apple founder Steve Jobs.
