BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) – Studio head Jim Gianopulos was the first man to be honored at Variety’s annual Power of Women event, and he thinks few should follow him.
“I hope someday very soon the concept of honoring men for empowering women will be obsolete and seem ridiculous,” the chief executive of 20th Century Fox said Friday as he was recognized for employing more female department heads than any other Hollywood studio.
“We’re living through an era where women are making astonishing, even revolutionary, creative contributions on a daily basis,” Gianopulos said. “And there’s no reason that in any part of the entertainment business women shouldn’t be provided with the same opportunities in the same numbers and with the same compensation as their male counterparts.”
His remarks were enthusiastically received at the luncheon that celebrated the philanthropic contributions of such stars as Anna Kendrick, Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey.
The private, three-hour event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was part pep-talk for gender equality and part call to action for charitable work that, as Winfrey put it, allows each woman to “live from the heart of yourself and give (back) what you have been given.”