Beverly Hills has both serious talks about what’s at stake for women around the world and a great party to celebrate their amazing achievements.
Heavy-hitting executives, producers, writers, talent, and glitterati gathered at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for the annual event and magazine feature.
Cover stars Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, activist icon Malala Yousafzai, and actor Elizabeth Olsen were all there to talk about causes that were important to them and to show women and other underrepresented groups in the U.S. a way forward to equity in a time of unrest.
Hilary Clinton told the crowd, “It’s a choice to be optimistic.” She was talking about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the safety of women in Iran, and a number of other rights that are in danger.
“My late friend Madeline Albright, who came before me as secretary of state, was once asked if she was an optimist. She answered, “Yes.” I’m a positive person who worries a lot. Let’s be positive, but let’s use our worry to get things done.'”
Her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, said it better when she said she felt “palpable anger” when she looked at her daughter and realized she might not have as many rights as she did as a young woman.
“As we gather here, many of us really never thought we’d live to see abortion banned in some states. In July, things changed. Cynthia Littleton, co-editor-in-chief of Variety, said in her opening remarks with Variety CEO and group publisher Michelle Sobrino-Stearns, “I really believe this crowd has as much power to fix that wrong as Congress does.”
Before the dinner show, celebrities like Sandra Oh, Quinta Brunson, Diane Guerrero, “Do Revenge” director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, “Dahmer” breakout Niecy Nash-Betts, Tia Mowry, Kathryn Hahn, and many more mingled over cocktails at the Cadillac-sponsored event.
Warner Bros. Television Studios CEO Channing Dungey, Warner Bros. film co-chief Pamela Abdy, Amazon film head Julie Rapaport, CAA super-agent Maha Dahkil, power attorney Ivy Kagan Bierman, Huma Abedin, Disney Branded Television president Ayo Davis, DreamWorks president Margie Cohn, and vice-president Courtenay Pulaski, Paramount Television president Nicole Clemens, and Principal Communications and Foresight
Meg Stalter, who is known for her role on the TV show “Hacks,” was the evening’s host. Stalter said, in her trademark awkward way of making people laugh, “I love the way I look, but I love the way I make people feel more.”
Olsen, from Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” was recognized for her work with The Rape Foundation and Stuart House (the latter is a well-known Los Angeles resource for children who are victims of sexual abuse).
She used the stage to praise Gail Abarbanel, the group’s leader. Olsen thanked the room for giving her the chance to talk about how Abarbanel has helped victims and changed people’s minds through “policy reforms, educational reforms in our police force and in homes and communities.”
Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, the head of the Latino Community Foundation and one of the people being honored, gave a very moving speech in which she encouraged people in the communities around Los Angeles to become entrepreneurs and leaders. In a moment of spontaneity, she asked everyone in the room to thank “the workers who made this food for us tonight.”
Yousafzai told the hard truth about diversity in front of and behind the camera in her new job as a content producer.
“Leads in Hollywood are less than 4% Asian, like me,” she said about actors. “Muslims make up 25% of the population, but only 1% of TV characters. Behind the camera, things are even worse for Black and Brown people who make movies.
DuVernay and Winfrey shined a bright light on the 42 female directors behind the OWN original series “Queen Sugar.” Many of these women were directing for the first time. DuVernay got the crowd really excited by listing all of the high-wattage shows that these women had gone on to direct after getting their start. Oprah ended the night with wise words from her friend and mentor, Maya Angelou.
“I told Maya that my brand-new school was going to be my legacy. “Your legacy is never just one thing,” she said. It’s all the things you touch. Tonight, I think about every life we touch and every story we hear,” Winfrey said.
Goldsky Productions made Variety’s Power of Women, which was shown on Lifetime. Vita Motus provided production design. Daisy O’Dell was in charge of the music.
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