The family attended the 2023 Stuttering Association for the Young Benefit Gala in New York City.
Mariska Hargitay, her husband, Peter Hermann, and their kids made a rare red carpet appearance for a gala celebrating a great and worthy cause.
The Law & Order: SVU star and Hermann on Monday attended the 21st annual Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY) Benefit Gala at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. The couple, who have been married for nearly two decades now, were flanked by their three children -- August, 16, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 11. The actress welcomed August in 2006, and the couple later adopted Amaya and Andrew within six months of each other in 2011.
Hargitay and Hermann -- along with Wayne Brady and journalist/author John Hendrickson -- were both being honored at the gala for their continuous work with SAY, a non-profit organization "that empowers, educates, and supports young people who stutter and the world that surrounds them."
The couple is the organization's new Hall of Fame inductees, while Brady and Hendrickson were bestowed with the SAY: Hero Award. Joann Fabric & Craft Stores earned the SAY: Budd Mayer Advocacy Award.
It's an especially meaningful cause for Hargitay and Hermann, whose son, August, has a stutter.
In video posted on Hargitay's Instagram Story, the couple is shown at the podium delivering a few words, which included Hermann seemingly choking back tears while addressing August: "First, August, thank you. I'm so proud to be your dad."
"Our son stutters," Hargitay told People, "and it was so beautiful to have this lovely community to introduce him to and learn about it from the experts."
August told the outlet that being surrounded by people who know exactly what he's going through felt special.
"I think that being in a place where you're surrounded by the people who are dealing with the same thing you are is super special. In school, there aren’t a lot of other people, or on the sports teams you play, at the organizations you go to, at the events I’m at with my parents. There's always a lot of pressure and conversation," he told People. "So to be in a place where the edge is off and it's encouraged, it's welcomed? It's special."
When ET spoke to Hermann and Hargitay in 2018, the couple, who tied the knot in 2004, opened up about how they make their long-lasting marriage work.
"There is no secret. We’re all just working through it -- whether it’s a relationship that exists in the public eye to some degree or doesn't," Hermann said at the time. "Our son plays basketball and his coach says, 'Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals,' and I think when it comes to relationships, the fundamentals, in the end, are not that complicated. That doesn't mean that they’re easy, but they’re not that complicated. It's fundamentals -- kindness, listen well and fight fair."
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