Nicole Kidman, Selena Gomez Honored at THR Women in Entertainment Gala

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Girls in Leisure occasion, offered 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 Girls in Leisure Energy 100 — honored Nicole Kidman with the Sherry Lansing Management Award, highlighting a lady who’s a pioneer in her subject. Selena Gomez was additionally acknowledged with the Fairness in Leisure Award, honoring her work amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities within the leisure business. (See pictures of the occasion.)

Contained in the breakfast — this yr held on the Beverly Hills Resort — Nikki Glaser kicked off the morning, joking, “What higher time to honor girls than at 8 a.m., earlier than the business is even awake, in that coveted post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas Hollywood useless zone? We’re girls in Hollywood, hear us roar!”

“Let’s simply take a second proper now to essentially admire the firepower on this room. Go searching — that is the Energy 100. Essentially the most highly effective girls 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 laborious to be encouraging when the business pits girls in opposition to one another. “I do know that typically I wrestle with supporting girls and I guess you do too. I’m a jealous bitch; I want I wasn’t. I’d guess there are at the very least 30 of you right here right this moment who I’ve needed to mute on Instagram as a result of in some unspecified time in the future 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 gang, “And muting is ok when that you must 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. However in addition to these two issues, the reality is the laborious factor to do is to be type — and never Ellen type, however type, type. It’s really easy to simply decide and resent girls you concern will take your home on this enterprise, however the more durable factor to do is to convey them in, to offer recommendation and provides them alternatives. I actually attempt to problem myself to do precisely what I actually needed girls to do for me after I was developing on this enterprise.”

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 readily available to current Gomez with the Fairness in Leisure Award.

Shannon, who labored with Gomez on season 4 of Solely Murders within the Constructing, gushed, “From the second we met, I knew I used to be within the presence of somebody actually extraordinary. Sure, she’s an extremely proficient actress, a multiplatinum Grammy-nominated recording artist and a history-making producer. However greater than that, somebody who genuinely cares about individuals and the world round her. She makes use of her platform to make an actual, lasting impression.”

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 comfortable, 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 interested by 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 appeared 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 are demanding to be seen and refuse to just accept the established order. I additionally wish to say that as shoppers we maintain appreciable energy; by selecting to help movies and exhibits that prioritize equitable illustration, we ship a transparent message to business leaders we would like tales that replicate the truth of our numerous world. Collectively, we are able to break down obstacles, amplify girls’s voices and create a future the place everybody’s story is informed.”

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 characteristic movie Zurawski v Texas, which Lawrence produced — offered a video highlighting the previous and current highschool mentees of THR‘s long-running mentorship program, which pairs a few of the brightest highschool ladies from underserved communities in Los Angeles with a few of the strongest feminine executives in movie and TV.

The present mentorship class every acquired a $10,000 scholarship to attend the college of their selection from Lifetime, and the incoming 2025 class every acquired a MacBook. 4 full-ride college scholarships, amounting to a price of greater than $1 million, had been additionally handed out, with Lawrence and Zurawski awarding the primary two from the Chuck Lorre Household Basis, one to Chapman College (to mentee Leslie) and one to Loyola Marymount College (to mentee Josie).

Kerry Washington, who acquired final yr’s Fairness in Leisure Award, then took over to announce that The Roybal College of Movie and Tv Magnet, the place Washington serves on the advisory board, has joined as a brand new partnership college of the mentorship program to create a path for Roybal college students to grow to be future mentees. She then offered the Nationwide Affiliation of Theatre House owners California Nevada’s scholarship to Chapman College to mentee Kenya.

Author-EP Melissa Blake, recognized for her work on Peacock’s Primarily based on a True Story and Amazon’s The Wilds, additionally sponsored a scholarship to Loyola Marymount College 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 Large 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 had been directed by girls.

“One of many many different ways in which Nicole demonstrates her distinctive management is in the way in which that she persistently exhibits up. Nicole isn’t not rising alternatives or constructing tales. Regardless of her infinite commitments, Nicole is all the time displaying 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 residence. She is on the prepared with a cup of tea with open ears and an open coronary heart, and nothing falls by way of the cracks with Nicole round. From the primary time I had the privilege of seeing her on display screen to our most up-to-date go to collectively — sure with an incredible cup of tea — Nicole continues to show me easy methods to pave the way in which for uplifting and magical management.”

Kidman — who graces the quilt of THR this week — was greeted by a standing ovation and commenced 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.”

“Sure it is a management award, but it surely’s actually vital 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 Management Award honorees and the “younger rising expertise” she has labored with just lately, in addition to her producing staff, longtime agent Kevin Huvane, husband Keith City, her daughters and her mom, who handed away three months in the past.

“Attain out right this moment, once you go away this room, and mentor somebody as a result of you haven’t any concept what it means once you get that help and that steering from anyone else,” the star continued. “There are such a lot of highly effective individuals on this room, so attain out, present that help, mentor somebody properly, as a result of the world will reap the advantages. And chances are you’ll impression a life in the identical means that Sherry Lansing impacted mine.”

Additionally in attendance on the gala had 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 Girls in Leisure occasion was sponsored by Greatest Purchase, Delta Air Traces, Uncommon Magnificence, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Sephora and WME, and placed on in partnership with Large Brothers Large Sisters of Better Los Angeles, Leisure Business Basis, Gersh, Chapman College and Loyola Marymount College.