The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment occasion, introduced by Lifetime, returned on Wednesday for its yearly celebration of Hollywood’s strongest women.
This yr, the star-studded occasion — which coincided with the publication of THR’s annual Women in Entertainment Power 100 — honored Nicole Kidman with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, highlighting a girl who’s a pioneer in her discipline. Selena Gomez was additionally acknowledged with the Equity in Entertainment Award, honoring her work amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities within the leisure trade. (See photographs of the occasion.)
Inside the breakfast — this yr held on the Beverly Hills Hotel — Nikki Glaser kicked off the morning, joking, “What higher time to honor ladies than at 8 a.m., earlier than the trade is even awake, in that coveted post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas Hollywood lifeless zone? We are ladies in Hollywood, hear us roar!”
“Let’s simply take a second proper now to essentially admire the firepower on this room. Look round — that is the Power 100. The strongest ladies in Hollywood, assembled right here collectively in the identical room. We’re just like the Avengers of people that haven’t seen The Avengers,” Glaser joked, whereas additionally admitting it may be arduous to be encouraging when the trade pits ladies in opposition to one another. “I do know that generally I wrestle with supporting ladies and I wager you do too. I’m a jealous bitch; I want I wasn’t. I might wager there are no less than 30 of you right here immediately who I’ve needed to mute on Instagram as a result of sooner or later you bought some job I needed, had a relationship I envied or, worst of all, your hair air-dries straight.”
She continued to laughs from the group, “And muting is ok when you want to defend your self from the evaluating and despairing, however the factor I’ve discovered that has helped me on this enterprise greater than something — is sleeping with highly effective males. No, it’s Adderall. But apart from these two issues, the reality is the arduous factor to do is to be sort — and never Ellen sort, however sort, sort. It’s really easy to only choose and resent ladies you concern will take your home on this enterprise, however the more durable factor to do is to carry them in, to present recommendation and provides them alternatives. I actually attempt to problem myself to do precisely what I actually needed ladies to do for me once I was developing on this enterprise.”
Nikki Glaser opened the occasion.
Phillip Faraone/The Hollywood Reporter through Getty Images
THR deputy editorial director Jeanie Pyun and writer-at-large Lacey Rose then took the stage alongside THR president Joe Shields and senior vp leisure, digital gross sales and technique Lori O’Connor as they congratulated this yr’s honorees and thanked the occasion sponsors. The group introduced up Molly Shannon, who was available to current Gomez with the Equity in Entertainment Award.
Shannon, who labored with Gomez on season 4 of Only Murders within the Building, gushed, “From the second we met, I knew I used to be within the presence of somebody actually extraordinary. Yes, she’s an extremely proficient actress, a multiplatinum Grammy-nominated recording artist and a history-making producer. But greater than that, somebody who genuinely cares about folks and the world round her. She makes use of her platform to make an actual, lasting affect.”
Accepting her award, Gomez recalled when she was 15 and filming Wizards of Waverly Place in entrance of a reside studio viewers. “A younger mom from the viewers got here down, and he or she was along with her daughter and stated, ‘I’m so excited and completely happy, thanks for being somebody that appears like my daughter on TV as a result of she will be able to lastly look as much as somebody like her,’” the star remembered. “At that age, I actually wasn’t enthusiastic about the illustration or what the gravity of these phrases meant, however I knew I used to be very grateful and I needed to do my finest to reside as much as that, no matter that seemed like.”
Gomez — who’s at present starring in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez — famous that in doing the work, “I’m particularly impressed by the younger era as a result of they’re those which might be demanding to be seen and refuse to just accept the established order. I additionally need to say that as customers we maintain appreciable energy; by selecting to assist movies and exhibits that prioritize equitable illustration, we ship a transparent message to trade leaders we wish tales that replicate the fact of our various world. Together, we are able to break down boundaries, amplify ladies’s voices and create a future the place everybody’s story is advised.”
Shifting into the scholarship portion of the morning, Jennifer Lawrence and Amanda Zurawski — the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. State of Texas, a Texas reproductive rights lawsuit spotlighted within the 2024 documentary function movie Zurawski v Texas, which Lawrence produced — introduced a video highlighting the previous and current highschool mentees of THR‘s long-running mentorship program, which pairs among the brightest highschool women from underserved communities in Los Angeles with among the strongest feminine executives in movie and TV.
The present mentorship class every obtained a $10,000 scholarship to attend the college of their selection from Lifetime, and the incoming 2025 class every obtained a MacBook. Four full-ride college scholarships, amounting to a price of greater than $1 million, have been additionally handed out, with Lawrence and Zurawski awarding the primary two from the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation, one to Chapman University (to mentee Leslie) and one to Loyola Marymount University (to mentee Josie).
Kerry Washington, who obtained final yr’s Equity in Entertainment Award, then took over to announce that The Roybal School of Film and Television Magnet, the place Washington serves on the advisory board, has joined as a brand new partnership faculty of the mentorship program to create a path for Roybal college students to grow to be future mentees. She then introduced the National Association of Theatre Owners California Nevada’s scholarship to Chapman University to mentee Kenya.
From left: Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Zurawski and Kerry Washington introduced scholarships on the gala.
Stefanie Keenan/The Hollywood Reporter through Getty Images (3)
Writer-EP Melissa Blake, recognized for her work on Peacock’s Based on a True Story and Amazon’s The Wilds, additionally sponsored a scholarship to Loyola Marymount University this yr, which Washington awarded to mentee Bryanna.
For the occasion’s headlining second, Laura Dern took the stage to current Kidman with the Sherry Lansing honor, reflecting on their 20-year friendship and collaboration on Big Little Lies. She additionally celebrated Kidman’s 2017 dedication to work with a feminine director each 18 months, noting 4 of her six tasks within the final yr have been directed by ladies.
“One of the various different ways in which Nicole demonstrates her distinctive management is in the best way that she persistently exhibits up. Nicole isn’t not rising alternatives or constructing tales. Despite her infinite commitments, Nicole is all the time exhibiting up, not solely as an actor and producer, however equally as mom, as spouse, as daughter, as sister, as good friend, as advocate and sure, that is true, as neighbor,” Dern stated. “She creates true house. She is on the prepared with a cup of tea with open ears and an open coronary heart, and nothing falls by means of the cracks with Nicole round. From the primary time I had the privilege of seeing her on display to our most up-to-date go to collectively — sure with an incredible cup of tea — Nicole continues to show me the best way to pave the best way for uplifting and magical management.”
Laura Dern launched Nicole Kidman.
Phillip Faraone/The Hollywood Reporter through Getty Images
Kidman — who graces the duvet of THR this week — was greeted by a standing ovation and started by paying tribute to Lansing, whom Kidman stated was “the primary government I met” when she first got here to Los Angeles and supported The Hours after it misplaced financing, a movie that she stated “modified my life.”
“Yes it is a management award, however it’s actually essential to acknowledge that that is about mentorship: good mentors and being a mentor,” she added. “That’s what Sherry has given all of us, it’s what she’s given me.”
Kidman additionally shouted out the earlier Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honorees and the “younger rising expertise” she has labored with not too long ago, in addition to her producing staff, longtime agent Kevin Huvane, husband Keith Urban, her daughters and her mom, who handed away three months in the past.
“Reach out immediately, once you depart this room, and mentor somebody as a result of you haven’t any concept what it means once you get that assist and that steering from someone else,” the star continued. “There are so many highly effective folks on this room, so attain out, present that assist, mentor somebody nicely, as a result of the world will reap the advantages. And you might affect a life in the identical approach that Sherry Lansing impacted mine.”
Also in attendance on the gala have been WIE honorees and notable names together with Pam Anderson, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Natasha Rothwell, Danielle Brooks, Ariana Madix, Kathy Bates, Julia Fox, Anna Konkle, Gia Coppola, Diane Warren and Rachel Morrison.
The Women in Entertainment occasion was sponsored by Best Buy, Delta Air Lines, Rare Beauty, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Sephora and WME, and placed on in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Gersh, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University.
