Rachel Sennott served as the host of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment gala breakfast on Wednesday, presented by Lifetime.
During her opening remarks to start the gala, the I Love LA creator-star joked about how “you know you made it as a woman in Hollywood when one of three things happen.”
“When people call every photoshoot you do a ‘humiliation ritual,’ when someone uses AI to make a video of you kissing a sloth from Zootopia or when you get asked to speak at a women’s brunch,” Sennott said, later sharing a story about how she accidentally stumbled into a women’s summit for tech and was instantly greeted with support.
“The other day I had a photoshoot — sorry I meant a humiliation ritual — and it was in one of those giant random media buildings. I got out of my car and I see a woman at the door and being the narcissist that I am, immediately thought, ‘She’s here to greet me,’” she continued. “I was like, ‘Hi! I’m Rachel!’ She was like ‘Hi! So nice to meet you! I’ll walk you up!’ So we start walking into the building and we’re just chatting. … We’re having a fabulous time until we arrive in a boardroom of women in suits. There’s a gorgeous breakfast spread. And I look around and everybody’s got binders. And in my head I’m like, Huh. Not the usual photoshoot set up, but I can totally get into it.”
Sennott described realizing she might be in the wrong place: “So I turn to her and I’m like, ‘Is the vibe for the shoot today like risky business?’ And she was like, ‘Sorry, are you not here for the women’s summit?’”
“And that’s when I realized that I had broken into a women’s summit for women working in tech,” she continued. “Obviously I apologized and dipped, but I thought it’s kind of wonderful how women create community and support for everyone, so well that I accidentally wandered into a community that I’m not a part of. Fingers crossed those ladies show up here in like 20 minutes.”
It’s been quite a busy year for Sennott, as her HBO series I Love LA debuted almost exactly a month ago in early November. There, she serves as creator and star of the comedy that tracks “an ambitious friend group navigating life and love” in Los Angeles. HBO recently renewed I Love LA for a second season.
Sennott kicked off a morning of dynamic programming, which included slated speakers of Dakota Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney, while Gwyneth Paltrow received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and Jennifer Lopez was honored with the Equity in Entertainment Award. Lopez was presented with the award by Kerry Washington, who received the Equity in Entertainment Award in 2023.
In attendance on Wednesday were roughly 30 high school juniors and seniors who are participants in THR’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program, which matches young women from underserved schools in L.A. with trailblazing female executives in film and TV.
The breakfast gala was sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Medicube, Reyka Vodka, Seven Bucks Productions and in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Gersh, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University.
