The actresses spoke out about inequality, Time's Up and more.
Reese Witherspoon and Danai Gurira are all about girl power!
The Big Little Lies star and the Black Panther standout sat down with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of United Nations Women, during a panel at the UN's headquarters to celebrate International Women’s Day and talk about female empowerment.
Witherspoon began by taking a moment to explain how the Time's Up movement came to be.
“It started out in October with 40 women in a room just talking about this problem and how we were going to deal with it because enough is enough," she explained. "We are no longer going to be harassed, we are no longer going to be mistreated or discriminated against. We are going to create more opportunity for each other."
Gurira also spoke about the women in countries like Liberia who have gone through traumatic experiences and have been left unheard.
“When I’ve sat in the presence of women and girls that have gone through things that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, all of them said to me no one had ever asked what had happened to them. That really got to me,” Gurira said, tearing up. “At the time I was an extremely broke playwright who had a fundraising party and a friend said he’d match whatever I made, and I was able to pay my New York rent and go.”
“But now I’m in a different position, so now I have to go again, and I have to meet those girls face to face," she continued, adding how we all must lift each other out and speak for those who don't have a voice.
Additionally, Witherspoon, who serves a storyteller-in-chief for Elizabeth Arden, applauded the cosmetics brand for donating $1 million to the UN Women’s fund today.
Before the event, the A Wrinkle in Time star took to Instagram to share how excited she was to be a part of the panel.
"So excited and honored to be at the @unitednations today on #IWD2018 to talk with activists & leaders about women’s rights! @elizabetharden, #TogetherWeMarchOn @timesupnow#TimesUp @unwomen. Happy International Women’s Day everyone! #internationalwomensday," she captioned her slideshow.
Meanwhile, Hollywood continued to support Time's Up at the Oscars by wearing an array of colors. See more in the video below.
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