Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter announced Monday that Academy Award-winning actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow will receive this year’s prestigious Sherry Lansing Leadership Award during THR’s annual Women in Entertainment breakfast gala in Los Angeles on Dec. 3. Attended by 600 industry leaders and VIPS, the acclaimed event returns to its birthplace, The Beverly Hills Hotel, for the third consecutive year — more than 30 years after the event first began there. The gala, presented by founding sponsor Lifetime, coincides with the release of The Hollywood Reporter’s highly anticipated Women in Entertainment issue, which highlights the Power 100, a list of the most powerful female executives and talent in entertainment. The Sherry Lansing Leadership Award recognizes trailblazers and philanthropists in entertainment and media and was established in honor of Sherry Lansing, the first woman to head a Hollywood studio (Lansing is the former CEO of Paramount Pictures). Past recipients of this honor include Nicole Kidman, Adele, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand and Viola Davis. “Throughout her remarkable career, Gwyneth Paltrow has redefined what it means to be a multihyphenate talent. From her unforgettable on-screen performances to her pioneering work as a founder and entrepreneur, she has built a legacy grounded in creativity, innovation and impact,” said THR editor-in-chief Maer Roshan. “Gwyneth empowers women to think bigger and bolder — taking control of their voices, ideas and careers. We are thrilled to celebrate her as this year’s Sherry Lansing Leadership Award honoree.” “Gwyneth has inspired millions through her bold artistry, her entrepreneurial spirit and her dedication to empowering women to be their authentic selves,” Lansing said. “Her influence transcends far beyond entertainment, shaping how we think about the relationship between wellness, purpose and leadership. By championing our well-being as the foundation to do our best work, she has truly created meaningful cultural change. I am so proud to recognize her with the award that bears my name.” Paltrow is a founder, CEO, investor and Oscar–winning artist whose vision has helped shape modern consumer culture. As the founder and CEO of goop, she scaled a weekly newsletter into a nine-figure global lifestyle platform that has redefined the modern consumer landscape across commerce, content, beauty, wellness, food and fashion. Under her leadership, goop has launched multiple category-defining brands, including goop Beauty, GWYN and goop Kitchen, a fast-growing, health-forward restaurant concept with 13 locations and a forthcoming expansion into consumer packaged goods. Onscreen, she can next be seen starring in A24’s Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie and co-starring Timothée Chalamet, set for release on Dec. 25. Paltrow is also an Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy winner whose film credits include Shakespeare in Love — for which she won the Academy Award for best actress — as well as The Royal Tenenbaums, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Proof, Se7en, Emma, Sliding Doors, Great Expectations, Shallow Hal and Marvel’s Iron Man franchise. A seasoned investor and operator, Paltrow’s portfolio spans more than 80 companies, including early entries into Uber, Pinterest, Canva, Oura Ring, Seed Health, OpenAI, Olipop and Sweetgreen. As co-founder and general partner of Kinship Ventures, Paltrow invests in early-stage and late-growth-stage growth companies across consumer tech, CPG 2.0, health and wellness infrastructure, AI-enabled tools, fintech and behaviorally intelligent products that redefine how we live and work. The breakfast will also be attended by approximately 30 high school juniors and seniors currently participating in THR’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program. The program pairs some of the brightest young women from underserved high schools across Los Angeles with some of the most powerful female executives in film and TV. The WIE Mentorship Program, now in its 16th year, is a joint venture with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. A total of 285 students have taken part in the program, with mentees having received more than $15 million in scholarships over the past 16 years. An annual highlight of the breakfast, this year’s celebration will see more than $1 million in university scholarships presented to high school seniors from the program. THR is grateful for the longtime support of its Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program and Scholarship Fund partners including Chapman University, Golden Globes Foundation, Lifetime, Loyola Marymount University and The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In 2024, the WIE Mentorship Program became a fiscally sponsored fund of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. This partnership brings young women engaged in entertainment career pathway programs into the mentorship program, along with the students participating through Big Brothers Big Sisters. The EIF Careers Program increases access to entertainment careers for historically excluded communities by leveraging relationships in the entertainment industry and among community-based organizations. The program has helped to secure dozens of employment opportunities for young people seeking careers in entertainment. In 2024, The Roybal School of Film and Television Magnet, also a fund of EIF, also joined as a new partnership school of the Mentorship Program, creating a path for Roybal students to become mentees. The mission of The Roybal Film and TV Magnet is to build a more inclusive pipeline of historically underrepresented, college and career-ready students interested in the film and television industries. THR’s Women in Entertainment event is presented by Lifetime, which has been one of the mentorship program’s biggest supporters, having contributed nearly $2 million in scholarships over the past nine years. The event is also sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Medicube, Reyka Vodka, Seven Bucks Productions and WME and in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University. The news caps a stellar year for THR, which recently received a record-breaking number of nominations (a total of 85) at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. Also in 2025, THR won 34 prizes at the SoCal Journalism Awards, landed a second consecutive Daytime Emmy nomination for its roundtable series and won the American Society of Magazine Editors award for best cover.
