Elizabeth Wagmeister | Variety
Oprah Winfrey, who was selected this year as a Variety Power of Women honoree along with Salma Hayek Pinault, Anna Kendrick, Gwyneth Paltrow and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, brought down the house at the Power of Women luncheon, presented by Lifetime, held Friday at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.
Variety’s biannual event, held both in Los Angeles and New York each year, honors women in the entertainment industry who use their public platform to raise awareness and work toward charitable causes.
Recognized for her incredible work with the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, Winfrey was the only one to receive a standing ovation at the event. However, in true Oprah fashion, the media mogul, who was introduced by director Ava DuVernay, put the attention on the other women in the room.
“I have always known this about celebrity,” Winfrey said, giving a nod to the public figures in the room. “The real power is understanding that what Salma has done, what Susan has done, what Gwyneth has done, what Rebecca has done, what Jim has done, is you, too, can do [it] because true philanthropy comes from living from the heart of yourself and giving what you have been given.”
Winfrey urged the room to make a difference themselves, continuing, “What we’ve done, you can do. The real empowerment comes when each person leaves this room and makes a decision.”
Becoming weepy while speaking of “her daughters” from her girls’ school in Africa (one of whom was in the audience), she recalled something significant that Maya Angelou once told her: Your legacy is seen in those whose lives you’ve touched. “It’s a beautiful thing to receive an award and to be on the cover of Variety,” Winfrey said. “But the true reward comes from the lives you have been able to touch and you know that you have impacted.”
Hayek Pinault, who was honored at the luncheon for her work with the Chime for Change charity, touched on similar subjects when delivering her remarks. “What gives me a hope is that in a world that is becoming apart, women are coming together,” she said, garnering a huge round of applause from the awe-inspired crowd.
Introduced by Jada Pinkett-Smith, who called Hayek Pinault “the ultimate ride-or-die chick of Hollywood,” the Mexican-American multi-hyphenate spoke of coming to the States as a young actress.
“I thought I was going to be working right away, but I was really worried about the other girls… And I was so wrong,” she recalled of the catty stereotype of competitive women in the biz. “For my very long career in the United States, I have to say, when I am about to die, I will remember with a smile on my face and in my heart, the amazing sisters, the extraordinary friends that I’ve made in this industry. I don’t know if maybe this is the industry that has the best women in the world — maybe because we’ve been so suppressed, we have kind of a bonding.”