In the midst of Hollywood’s ongoing sexual assault scandals, the Screen Actors Guild Awards will honour women in the industry by having only female presenters at the 2018 awards ceremony.
The awards’ executive producer Kathy Connell told ET Canada that she took inspiration from January’s Women’s March and pitched the idea to Sandra Dewey, the president at Turner Entertainment.
“It was in the works for a while,” Conell said. “In January we had women speaking out. We are very proud of the women across this country and if you look at the fact that the most famous women in the world have a lot of the same issues that everyone else has. They don’t have economic equality, they don’t have creative equality and they have the safety issue.
“So if we can bring our women together to salute them, perhaps it sends a message.”
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All 13 categories will be presented by women. The final award, “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture,” will be introduced by both a man and a woman, but the woman will present the actual statue.
“It’s the year of the woman and we want to salute women as we are celebrating the best performances of the year,” Connell said.
Presenters this year include Halle Berry, Megan Mullally, Olivia Munn, Goldie Hawn, Dakota Fanning, Gina Rodriguez and Kate Hudson.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” actress Ann Dowd says the Screen Actors Guild is “making a statement” by having all-female presenters.
“We are going to have to keep this front and centre and visible and loud and clear,” she said of the Time’s Up movement.
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Kristen Bell will act as the inaugural SAG host.
“I’m not the first female host,” Bell told the The New York Times. “I’m the first host. The fact that a female was chosen to be the first one means my genitals become irrelevant.”
The SAG Awards will air Jan. 21, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Global.
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