Oscar winner Halle Berry’s subsequent choose for president of the USA? Not California Gov. Gavin Newsom, she made that abundantly clear on Wednesday.
The “Monster’s Ball” and “Catwoman” star boldly known as out Newsom and aimed toward his potential bid for the presidency in 2028 throughout her tackle on the New York Instances’ DealBook Summit, the place he was additionally a featured speaker. Berry, 59, spoke candidly about her struggles with signs of perimenopause and lamented the governor’s choice in October to veto Meeting Invoice 432, which sought to increase insurance coverage protection for menopause-related care and remedy.
“In my nice state of California, my very personal governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause invoice not one, however two years, in a row,” she advised attendees on the Jazz at Lincoln Heart, “however that’s OK as a result of he’s not going to be governor without end.”
“With the best way he’s ignored girls — half the inhabitants — by devaluing us in mid-life, he in all probability shouldn’t be our subsequent president, both,” she continued, eliciting some groans from the viewers. “Simply saying.”
A spokesperson for the governor said on Thursday that Newsom has “deep admiration for Ms. Berry’s advocacy and appears ahead to working together with her and different stakeholders on this crucial challenge.”
“He shares her purpose of increasing entry to menopause care that too many ladies wrestle to get,” the assertion mentioned, earlier than explaining Newsom’s choice to veto AB 432 in October. The assertion mentioned the invoice, a modified model AB 2467 (which Newsom vetoed in 2024), “would have unintentionally raised well being care prices for hundreds of thousands of working girls and dealing households already stretched skinny.”
The assertion added: “We’re assured that by working collectively this yr, we are able to develop entry to important menopause remedy whereas defending girls from larger payments.”
Berry, earlier than her 17-minute tackle on Wednesday, made her combat for menopause consciousness and care public in 2024. Final March, she revealed that the ache she skilled throughout intercourse was a results of vaginal dryness, a symptom of perimenopause, and never herpes as a health care provider had incorrectly concluded. That have, she mentioned on the time, prompted her to boost consciousness about menopause and led her to discovered Respin, a digital group described as a “useful resource for ladies within the midst of menopause, on the cusp of it, or making ready for it.”
Final yr, the mom of two additionally appeared on Capitol Hill alongside a number of bipartisan senators to advocate for funding towards menopause schooling and remedy.
On Thursday, Berry underscored that the combat for elevated menopause care doesn’t fall on simply girls and the individuals who expertise it.
“We’d like all the leaders, each single one among you on this room, this combat wants you,” she mentioned. “We’d like you to remain curious, we’d like you to ask questions. We’d like you to care, even when the subject feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable.”
Berry additionally inspired girls to “refuse to be diminished throughout one of the crucial essential seasons of your life.” Nearing her 60s, the actor advised her viewers, “I’ve zero f— left to present.”
“I’m going to combat like hell, as a result of my longevity is dependent upon it. The longevity of my daughter is dependent upon it. The longevity of ladies all over the place is dependent upon it.”
