Variety honours Hudson, McCarthy, Stone and Igbokwe at Power of Women LA
Jennifer Hudson, Melissa McCarthy, Sharon Stone and Pearlena Igbokwe were honoured at Variety's Power of Women Los Angeles 2026 on 23 September at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
The event was presented by Lifetime, and drew actors, creators and senior television executives into one room for the annual celebration, according to Variety. Variety released its Power of Women issue on 17 September ahead of the 23 September gathering. The four honourees were also the cover stars for that issue, as reported by Variety.
Hudson, McCarthy, Stone and Igbokwe all attended as guests of honour. Hudson was photographed arriving at the hotel, while McCarthy, Stone and Igbokwe appeared on the red carpet. Their presence put four careers from film, television and business leadership at the centre of the day.
They were joined by Queen Latifah on the red carpet, as documented by Page Six. Issa Rae, the actor and producer behind series including Insecure, attended the hotel event. Comedian Iliza Shlesinger and Courtney Kelso were also listed among the guests.
The guest list stretched well beyond performers. Channing Dungey, chairman at Warner Brothers Television Group, attended alongside Karen Pittman and television creator Courtney Kemp. From the studio and channel side, Gina Balian, president of FX, appeared with Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family.
Amazon sent a senior group. Kelly Day, vice-president and head of international at Prime Video, attended with Sue Kroll, head of global marketing at Amazon MGM Studios, and Julie Rapaport, head of film, development and production at Amazon MGM Studios. Sony was represented by Tahra Grant, chief communications officer at Sony Pictures Entertainment, who attended with executives Johanna Fuentes and Jennifer Davidson.
Writers were in the room too. They included Aline Brosh McKenna, screenwriter of "The Devil Wears Prada 2". Her credit spans studio films and television writing rooms, the teams that develop scripts before a series goes into production.
What makes this stand out is the blend. Awards events often separate talent from the commissioning table. Here they shared it, with performers, showrunners and the executives who order and schedule series side by side.
Power of Women now runs in more than one city. Variety named Emilia Clarke, Emma Corrin, Cynthia Erivo, Hannah Waddingham and Suki Waterhouse as honourees for its inaugural Power of Women: London. Last year's Los Angeles honourees were Sydney Sweeney, Nicole Scherzinger, Wanda Sykes, Kate Hudson and Jamie Lee Curtis.
