Nicole Kidman, Selena Gomez Celebrate Mentorship and Unity at THR Women in Entertainment Event: “Together, We Can Break Down Barriers”

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment event, presented by Lifetime, returned on Wednesday for its yearly celebration of Hollywood’s most powerful ladies.

This year, the star-studded event — 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 woman who is a pioneer in her field. Selena Gomez was also recognized with the Equity in Entertainment Award, honoring her work amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities in the entertainment industry. (See photos of the event.)

Inside the breakfast — this year held at the Beverly Hills Hotel — Nikki Glaser kicked off the morning, joking, “What better time to honor women than at 8 a.m., before the industry is even awake, in that coveted post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas Hollywood dead zone? We are women in Hollywood, hear us roar!”

“Let’s just take a moment right now to really appreciate the firepower in this room. Look around — this is the Power 100. The most powerful women in Hollywood, assembled here together in the same room. We’re like the Avengers of people who haven’t seen The Avengers,” Glaser joked, while also admitting it can be hard to be encouraging when the industry pits women against each other. “I know that sometimes I struggle with supporting women and I bet you do too. I’m a jealous bitch; I wish I wasn’t. I would bet there are at least 30 of you here today who I’ve had to mute on Instagram because at some point you got some job I wanted, had a relationship I envied or, worst of all, your hair air-dries straight.”

She continued to laughs from the crowd, “And muting is fine when you need to protect yourself from the comparing and despairing, but the thing I’ve found that has helped me in this business more than anything — is sleeping with powerful men. No, it’s Adderall. But besides those two things, the truth is the hard thing to do is to be kind — and not Ellen kind, but kind, kind. It’s so easy to just judge and resent women you fear will take your place in this business, but the harder thing to do is to bring them in, to give advice and give them opportunities. I really try to challenge myself to do exactly what I really wanted women to do for me when I was coming up in this business.”

THR deputy editorial director Jeanie Pyun and writer-at-large Lacey Rose then took the stage alongside THR president Joe Shields and senior vp entertainment, digital sales and strategy Lori O’Connor as they congratulated this year’s honorees and thanked the event sponsors. The group brought up Molly Shannon, who was on hand to present Gomez with the Equity in Entertainment Award.

Shannon, who worked with Gomez on season four of Only Murders in the Building, gushed, “From the moment we met, I knew I was in the presence of someone truly extraordinary. Yes, she’s an incredibly talented actress, a multiplatinum Grammy-nominated recording artist and a history-making producer. But more than that, someone who genuinely cares about people and the world around her. She uses her platform to make a real, lasting impact.”

Accepting her award, Gomez recalled when she was 15 and filming Wizards of Waverly Place in front of a live studio audience. “A young mother from the audience came down, and she was with her daughter and said, ‘I’m so excited and happy, thank you for being someone that looks like my daughter on TV because she can finally look up to someone like her,’” the star remembered. “At that age, I really wasn’t thinking about the representation or what the gravity of those words meant, but I knew I was very grateful and I wanted to do my best to live up to that, whatever that looked like.”

Gomez — who is currently starring in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez — noted that in doing the work, “I am especially inspired by the young generation because they are the ones that are demanding to be seen and refuse to accept the status quo. I also want to say that as consumers we hold considerable power; by choosing to support films and shows that prioritize equitable representation, we send a clear message to industry leaders we want stories that reflect the reality of our diverse world. Together, we can break down barriers, amplify women’s voices and create a future where everyone’s story is told.”

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 in the 2024 documentary feature film Zurawski v Texas, which Lawrence produced — presented a video highlighting the past and present high school mentees of THR‘s long-running mentorship program, which pairs some of the brightest high school girls from underserved communities in Los Angeles with some of the most powerful female executives in film and TV.

The current mentorship class each received a $10,000 scholarship to attend the university of their choice from Lifetime, and the incoming 2025 class each received a MacBook. Four full-ride university scholarships, amounting to a value of more than $1 million, were also handed out, with Lawrence and Zurawski awarding the first 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 received last year’s Equity in Entertainment Award, then took over to announce that The Roybal School of Film and Television Magnet, where Washington serves on the advisory board, has joined as a new partnership school of the mentorship program to create a path for Roybal students to become future mentees. She then presented the National Association of Theatre Owners California Nevada’s scholarship to Chapman University to mentee Kenya.

Writer-EP Melissa Blake, known for her work on Peacock’s Based on a True Story and Amazon’s The Wilds, also sponsored a scholarship to Loyola Marymount University this year, which Washington awarded to mentee Bryanna.

For the event’s headlining moment, Laura Dern took the stage to present Kidman with the Sherry Lansing honor, reflecting on their 20-year friendship and collaboration on Big Little Lies. She also celebrated Kidman’s 2017 commitment to work with a female director every 18 months, noting four of her six projects in the last year were directed by women.

“One of the many other ways that Nicole demonstrates her exceptional leadership is in the way that she consistently shows up. Nicole is never not growing opportunities or building stories. Despite her endless commitments, Nicole is always showing up, not only as an actor and producer, but equally as mother, as wife, as daughter, as sister, as friend, as advocate and yes, this is true, as neighbor,” Dern said. “She creates true home. She is at the ready with a cup of tea with open ears and an open heart, and nothing falls through the cracks with Nicole around. From the first time I had the privilege of seeing her on screen to our most recent visit together — yes with an amazing cup of tea — Nicole continues to teach me how to pave the way for inspiring and magical leadership.”

Kidman — who graces the cover of THR this week — was greeted by a standing ovation and began by paying tribute to Lansing, whom Kidman said was “the first executive I met” when she first came to Los Angeles and supported The Hours after it lost financing, a film that she said “changed my life.”

“Yes this is a leadership award, but it’s really important to acknowledge that this 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 also shouted out the previous Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honorees and the “young emerging talent” she has worked with recently, as well as her producing team, longtime agent Kevin Huvane, husband Keith Urban, her daughters and her mother, who passed away three months ago.

“Reach out today, when you leave this room, and mentor someone because you have no idea what it means when you get that support and that guidance from somebody else,” the star continued. “There are so many powerful people in this room, so reach out, show that support, mentor someone well, because the world will reap the benefits. And you may impact a life in the same way that Sherry Lansing impacted mine.”

Also in attendance at the gala were WIE honorees and notable names including 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 event was sponsored by Best Buy, Delta Air Lines, Rare Beauty, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Sephora and WME, and put on in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Gersh, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University.