The annual gala, presented by Max Mara, honored Salma Hayek Pinault, Hannah Waddingham and Adria Arjona, among others, while highlighting the ongoing fight for greater representation in Hollywood.
“It doesn’t have so much to do with Democrat and Republican. I think it has to do with cruelty and love,” Jane Fonda said, reflecting on the week’s midterm election results at the 2026 Women in Film Honors on Thursday night.
The 88-year-old actress and longtime activist had a hopeful but urgent tone at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, where Women in Film, with Max Mara as presenting sponsor, brought together Hollywood’s leading voices to celebrate the women pushing for greater equity across entertainment.
“I love this organization because it brings together a room full of women who I like to believe know how to fight,” Fonda told the crowd. “If authoritarianism is like a cancer that thrives when people feel isolated or frightened or hopeless, the antidote is right here in this room.”
The evening was hosted two days after the elections, which brought historic victories for women, including Keisha Lance Bottoms, elected Georgia’s governor and the first Black woman to win a U.S. governorship; Gina Hinojosa, Texas’ first Latina governor, and Deb Haaland, New Mexico’s first Native American woman governor.
“If we’ve learned something important this week, it’s that power isn’t something women have to wait for someone to give us,” Fonda continued. “It’s something we can take when we stand together.”
She was quick to caution against complacency.
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