Salma Hayek Receives Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award at WIF Honors 2026

Salma Hayek received the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award at the 2026 Women in Film Honors on Thursday 5 November 2026, in a Beverly Hills ceremony that put advocacy, not just glamour, at the centre of the night. The award was presented to her by Jane Fonda herself at The Beverly Hilton, two months after Hayek turned 60 and as she prepares her debut as a film director.

The honour made Hayek the most searched-for name in the United States on Saturday 7 November 2026, topping the day’s Google Trends list as photographs and reports from the red carpet spread. It was a night that belonged to the women being honoured, and to the organisation behind them: WIF, whose annual gala is its largest fundraiser of the year, directly funding its advocacy, research and career programmes.

A Beverly Hilton night built around equity, not just glamour

The 2026 WIF Honors arrived at a moment when Hollywood’s power structures are under fresh scrutiny, and the evening’s speeches leaned into that. Forbes reported that Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek and producer Pamela Abdy used the platform to champion women’s equity in the industry, reinforcing the event’s mission rather than treating it as a purely ceremonial occasion.

That tone is the point of the gala. WIF describes the Honors as a celebration of expansive storytelling and of the people, in front of and behind the camera, who reflect the world as it actually is. The organisation’s chief executive, Kirsten Schaffer, said the 2026 honorees exemplified what WIF stands for: vision, fierce community, and lifting up the next generation.

The red carpet reflected the breadth of the room. Kerry Washington, Sharon Stone, Brittany Snow, Olivia Munn and Natasha Rothwell were among those photographed arriving, alongside the evening’s honorees. Adria Arjona attended with Jason Momoa. Hayek arrived with her husband, French businessman François-Henri Pinault, 64, in a figure-hugging navy gown with an asymmetric silhouette and a metal brooch.

The Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award and what it recognised

The award Hayek received carries Fonda’s name because Fonda was its inaugural recipient, and it is given for humanitarian work as much as for screen achievement. Fonda, 88, presented it to Hayek in person, in one of the evening’s most photographed moments.

Hayek’s advocacy has long run alongside her acting career, with a focus on women’s rights, child protection and the defence of migrant communities. Those causes were central to the citation for the award, and they were the thread running through her remarks on the night. The pairing mattered: two generations of actresses, both known for turning fame into campaigning, sharing a stage built for exactly that.

The moment also landed two months after a personal milestone. Hayek turned 60 in September 2026, and told People she feels “very optimistic” about the landmark. “It sounded so scary in the 20s, in the 30s, in the 40s, even in the 50s. It’s not scary at all. Once you get here, it’s not bad at all,” she said.

The full 2026 honours list, from Vanguard to Face of the Future

Hayek was one of six honorees, and the spread of awards showed how wide WIF’s net now reaches, from studio leadership to first-time filmmakers.

Pamela Abdy, co-chair and chief executive of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, received the inaugural Vanguard Award, presented by filmmaker Nancy Meyers, and used her speech to call for greater recognition of women in Hollywood after the studio’s latest corporate restructuring. Adria Arjona, honoured after a run that included the Peabody-winning series Andor and her work as executive producer and star of Los Frikis and Splitsville, took the Face of the Future prize for an actress at a turning point in her career.

Hannah Waddingham, widely known for playing Rebecca Welton in Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, received the Crystal Award for Advocacy in TV, recognising work that has opened doors for women on and off screen. The film prize went to director Beth de Araújo and Gemma Chan, honoured in absentia, for their collaboration on Josephine, a drama about a young girl who witnesses a devastating crime in Golden Gate Park, which won the US Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Sixty, directing, and a new chapter with Arena

For Hayek, the award arrives at the start of a new professional chapter rather than the end of one. She is making her directorial debut with Arena, an epic romantic adventure that she also wrote, and told interviewers that finishing that film is where her attention sits. “I just directed my first film and that’s very exciting,” she said. “Well, let me finish this one. Let’s stay in the present. It’s great. The present is great.”

The confidence is hard-won. Hayek has spoken openly about the doubts she carried into her 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover at 58, describing a “very bad case of imposter syndrome” before the shoot and admitting she tried to back out once she had said yes. That she now talks about turning 60 without fear — “I’m still doing what I love, and I have the blessing of my family and friends and health and energy and dreams” — is part of why the Humanitarian Award citation landed the way it did.

The WIF stage gave that story a public frame. A room full of women who have fought similar battles, from Abdy’s boardroom to Waddingham’s television sets, watched one of their own accept an award named for an 88-year-old activist who has never stopped working.

Why the red carpet mattered beyond the dresses

It would be easy to file the night under fashion. Hayek’s navy gown drew much of the coverage, and the red carpet galleries from Page Six and others led with the looks. But the search spike that followed tells a different story: people were not only looking at dresses, they were looking up what the awards mean.

That is the calculation behind the gala’s design. The Honors is WIF’s biggest fundraising night, and the money goes to programmes that outlast the photographs: advocacy for parity in hiring, research into who gets to tell stories, and career support for women entering the industry. Max Mara’s presenting sponsorship, alongside Amazon MGM Studios, Apple TV, Delta Air Lines, Netflix, STARZ and Warner Bros. Pictures, underwrites a room where the speeches carry as much weight as the gowns.

For readers catching up on the night, the James Blunt album release covered earlier this week shows how a single release can dominate a news cycle, while the Judi Dench memoir revelations showed how one interview can reopen a whole franchise debate. The WIF Honors did something quieter and, in its own way, larger: it gathered the women doing the work, honoured them in public, and sent the audience home with names to remember.

The full list of honorees and the official citations are published in the WIF announcement, and the night’s red carpet arrivals are documented in the Page Six gallery.

Frequently asked questions

What award did Salma Hayek win at the WIF Honors 2026?

Salma Hayek Pinault received the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award, which recognises humanitarian advocacy alongside screen achievement. Jane Fonda, the award’s inaugural recipient, presented it to her in person.

When and where were the 2026 WIF Honors held?

The gala took place on Thursday 5 November 2026 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. It is presented by Max Mara and is WIF’s largest fundraiser of the year.

Who else was honoured at the 2026 WIF Honors?

Pamela Abdy received the inaugural Vanguard Award, Adria Arjona received the WIF Max Mara Face of the Future Award, Hannah Waddingham received the Crystal Award for Advocacy in TV, and Beth de Araújo and Gemma Chan received the Crystal Award for Advocacy in Film for Josephine.

How old is Salma Hayek?

Hayek turned 60 in September 2026. She told People she feels “very optimistic” about the milestone, saying it had sounded frightening for decades but “once you get here, it’s not bad at all.”

What film is Salma Hayek directing?

Arena, an epic romantic adventure that she also wrote. It is her directorial debut, and she has said finishing it is her current focus before considering another film behind the camera.

Myth-busting

Myth: the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award was given for a single film role. It was not. The award recognises humanitarian advocacy — in Hayek’s case, her work for women’s rights, child protection and migrant communities — alongside her screen career.

Myth: turning 60 means Hayek is slowing down. Her own words say the opposite: she has just directed her first film, Arena, and describes herself as having “the blessing of my family and friends and health and energy and dreams” to keep working.

Myth: the WIF Honors is only a red-carpet photo opportunity. The gala is WIF’s largest annual fundraiser, directly funding its advocacy, research and career programmes, with the 2026 edition presented by Max Mara and supported by six major studios and brands.