The Most Powerful Women in Entertainment 2008
The Hollywood Reporter's Annual Power 100 List
Dec 9, 2008
December is the month for rankings and lists: the most popular songs of the year; the best (and worst) celebrity moments; the biggest news stories and so on. Add to this one more: The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Power 100 list.
Published for the 17th time on December 5, the list compiled by the industry journal ranks the 100 most influential women in entertainment, based on their corporate position and their ability to control budgets and content.
Oprah Winfrey Tops the List
Topping the 2008 list is Oprah Winfrey, the popular daytime talk show host and chairwoman of Harpo Inc, the media company that owns The Oprah Winfrey Show and ‘O: The Oprah Magazine’, to name just two of an extensive range of successful Oprah-branded products. Many of the other names on the list will not be so familiar as the women, while controlling media empires, do not have Winfrey’s public presence.
Names that will be familiar, however, include:
- actress Angelina Jolie at number 24 on the list
- television presenter and president of Bankable Prods. Tyra Banks at 36
- producer, writer and actress Tina Fey at 51 – her position to a certain extent due to her popular impersonations during the elections of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate
- TV chef and author Rachael Ray at 65
- closing out the list at 100, 16-year-old actress and singer Miley Cyrus.
Oprah Winfrey was sixth on the list in 2007, and her rise to the number one position this year represents one of the most significant climbs. One of the reasons given for this was her influence on voters during the 2008 presidential elections. A report on The Hollywood Reporter Live Feed site says that she played a role in Barack Obama’s victory by endorsing him early on in the race. The report also says that a study conducted by University of Maryland economists shows Winfrey’s support of Obama won him more than a million votes across the United States.
Hollywood’s Highest-paid Actresses
As part of the same Power 100 list, The Hollywood Reporter also published its annual ranking of the entertainment industry’s highest-paid actresses. Angelina Jolie appears once again, this time in the top spot, earning in excess of $15 million per movie. Julia Roberts, who, despite taking time off to raise a family, still commands $15 million per movie, and occupies second place. Coming in third, at around $14 million per film is Reese Witherspoon, 2007’s highest earner.
The complete Power 100 list can be found here.
