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Hillary Clinton

Malala Yousafzai on Hollywood's lack of Muslim, Asian inclusion: 'Representation is a consolation prize'

Pamela Avila
USA TODAY
(L-R) The mother-daughter duo, Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Clinton, are currently promoting "Gutsy," their new Apple TV+ series adapted from their 2019 "Book of Gutsy Women."

BEVERLY HILLS — The personal is the political. 

Variety's Power of Women dinner at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, presented by Lifetime, was back in full swing Thursday as the wine flowed, bread and burrata cheese were devoured, and trailblazing women held back no punches during their speeches.

From abortion to representation in Hollywood, honorees and Variety's magazine cover stars mother-daughter duo Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, legend Oprah Winfrey, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, activist Malala Yousafzai, and actor Elizabeth Olsen all called on attendees to be the change they want to see on and off the screen, and their own close-knit communities. 

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton alluded to the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in her speech, saying "it's work in our own country to keep our progress going and not let the clock be turned back." She also spoke about the importance of "caring about the rest of the world" and recognized the "brave women" in Iran, Ukraine and Afghanistan who are "standing up for their rights." 

Chelsea Clinton spoke unflinchingly about feeling "full of palpitating rage as I look at my daughter and realize that she could have fewer rights than I had growing up in this country." 

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Malala Yousafzai used Variety’s Power of Women event to call out the fact that Muslim actors only make up 1% of popular TV series leads.

The Clintons also plugged promotion of their new Apple TV+ docuseries, "Gutsy," where the two hold intimate conversations about life, careers and courage with guests including Gloria Steinman, Glennon Doyle, Kim Kardashian and more. And Thursday, Hillary Clinton urged those in attendance to "let's all be gutsy together." 

"This is an existential moment," Chelsea Clinton said. "We certainly need all of us to be gutsy, because I don't want to go further back." 

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Yousafzai — deemed "incredible, warm, funny" and "egoless about her accomplishments" by "Abbott Elementary" creator Quinta Brunson — gave a fiery speech calling out Hollywood's lack of Muslin and Asian inclusion. 

"I learned that Asian people like me make up less than four percent of leads in Hollywood films," the Pakistani education activist said. "Muslims are 25 percent of the population, but only one percent of characters in popular TV series."

While shows like Mindy Kaling's "Never Have I Ever" and Netflix's "Sex Education," among others, have proven to be fresh and diverse — Yousafzai said Hollywood executives still think "characters or their creators (are) too young, too brown, too foreign, too poor" to be worthy of their stories being told. 

But the 25-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate also isn't asking for a crumb of representation. "To me, representation is just a consolation prize," she continued. "I want our shows and our films to be the mainstream." 

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Oprah Winfrey, front and center, accepts her award onstage during Variety's Power of Women on Sept. 29.

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After speeches from Olsen, "WandaVision" co-star Kathryn Hahn, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation Jacqueline Martinez Garcel (who received the Social Impact Award presented by Google), "Doom Patrol" actor Diane Guerrero, "Jeffrey Dahmer Story" star Niecy Nash and "Queen Sugar" actor Bianca Lawson — there was only one question in every attendee's mind, "Where's Oprah?" 

The multi-hyphenate trailblazer brought everyone to their feet, welcoming her with a roaring round of applause and a "we love you Oprah" here and there, as she triumphantly took the stage. 

"We are all looking for the same thing," Winfrey said after being introduced by her "Queen Sugar" partner in crime Ava DuVernay. "This is the one lesson I came away from doing 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' The common denominator of our experiences is that we all want to know that we matter and we want a show that reflects our values."

And with that, everyone scuttled out having been bestowed with wisdom from the one and only. 

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