Good morning! Fortune MPW editorial director Ellie Austin here. Federal cuts are driving Planned Parenthood to cosmetic treatments, Hulu has ditched its Buffy
reboot, and history was made for women at the Oscars. Have a good Monday. Last night’s Academy Awards were a tame but enjoyable affair, grappling with two big questions, both frequently referenced onstage: What is the role of Hollywood in a world beset by myriad crises? And what is the future of movie-going as AI and streaming reshape entertainment? (Host Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue included a sharp joke about the evening being Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos’ first time in a theater. “Why are they all together enjoying themselves?” said O’Brien, imagining Sarandos’ thoughts. “They should be home alone, where I can monetize it!”)
The political thriller
One Battle After Another dominated, winning six awards including best picture.
Sinners, a supernatural portrayal of the Jim Crow South
, came in second with
four wins, one of which saw Michael B. Jordan beat Timothée Chalamet to the best actor statue. The movie also won the cinematography award, thanks to Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who made history as the first woman ever to win the category. Hellish global headlines make issues like equity in Hollywood seem less urgent, but we shouldn’t forget how poorly represented women and people of color continue to be at all levels of the entertainment business.
The 2026 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, published just last week, showed that 2025’s biggest films were less diverse than previous years, with the number of women in lead roles down 10% year-on-year. In her acceptance speech, Durald Arkapaw asked all the women in the room to stand up and said that she wouldn’t have achieved all she has without them.
Relatedly, Amy Madigan scooped her first Oscar at the age of 75, winning the best supporting actress category for her role as Aunt Gladys in the horror hit
Weapons. It is a glorious example of bucking trends in an industry not known for celebrating older women, proving that there is no expiration date on success.
Other memorable moments: – All the Empty Rooms, a devastating film about the bedrooms left behind by victims of school shootings, won the award for best documentary short. Gloria Cazares, the mother of Jackie Cazares, who was killed at the age of 9 in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022, joined the filmmakers onstage. “If the world could see their empty bedrooms, we’d be a different America,” Gloria said.
– Memorable for all the wrong reasons was the moment after “Golden,” a huge hit from
KPop Demon Hunters, won best original song. But the walkoff music was played far too soon, and the team didn’t get a proper speech—they stood there for a few seconds looking devastated and then left the stage. This is the first KPop track ever to win the award.
– Jessie Buckley’s best actress win for
Hamnet was as unsurprising as her acceptance speech was charming. She told her husband that she wants to have 20,000 more children with him and, as it was U.K. Mother’s Day (she is Irish), she dedicated her Oscar to “the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
In short, the 98th Academy Awards ceremony did not provide answers to the big, existential questions about the future of Hollywood. It did, however, give us a few hours of glamorous escapism from everything else going on in the world which is, perhaps, exactly what we needed from it.
Ellie Austin
Editorial Director, Most Powerful Women
ellie.austin@fortune.comThe Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’
s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.
