Halle Berry delivered a fiery message at the DealBook Summit on Wednesday, calling out California Gov. Gavin Newsom while speaking about the way women — especially older women — are treated in Hollywood and across the country.
According to Fox News, Berry used her time on stage to highlight what she sees as a persistent cultural disregard for women as they age.
“At this stage in my life, I have zero f—- left to give,” Berry said.
She then zeroed in on Newsom’s decision to veto AB 432 — legislation aimed at improving menopause care — twice.
“Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one, but two years in a row,” she said. “But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever, and the way he has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying.”
AB 432, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, would have expanded menopause care by requiring health plans to cover treatment recommendations and mandating menopause-related training for providers. Newsom rejected the bill again in October.
The governor, who recently told CBS News he is seriously considering a 2028 presidential run, was in the audience during Berry’s remarks.
Berry, who founded the menopause-focused company Respin, said her age places her in a category that America routinely overlooks.
“In 2025, there is a lot to still be talked about and discovered and uncovered, especially if you are a woman who is navigating midlife and thoughtfully considering your longevity, because in 2025, I, Halle Berry, and women of my age are simply devalued in this country,” she said.
She argued that society views women nearing 60 as “past my prime” and fading from relevance in entertainment, the workplace, and online.
“Women are pressured to stay forever 35,” she said. “We’re complimented if we seem to be aging backwards or defying gravity… and if we somehow manage to look younger than our years, it’s suggested that’s the gold standard that our worth should be measured by.”
Berry admitted she feels the same pressures pushing many in Hollywood toward drastic cosmetic procedures.
“We’re encouraged to contort our bodies and our faces in truly extreme ways to chase this elusive fountain of youth,” she said. “And, sadly, I have to admit, I too feel this pressure every single day.”
“I feel that pressure to change myself in order to stay seen as relevant and desirable,” she added.
Berry then shared a painful memory from her childhood in Cleveland, describing how she was bullied and beaten by other children after getting off a school bus.
“As they walked off laughing, I was left to pick myself up shirtless out of the gutter,” she recalled. “I was humiliated because I had allowed myself to be treated this way.”
Berry said that moment — in the sixth grade — became a turning point.
“But as I was walking home, I said, ‘No. I’m never going to allow this to happen to me again,’” she said. “‘I’m never not going to stand up for myself. I’ll never allow myself to be a victim like that.'”
She told the audience she has lived by that promise ever since, refusing to accept mistreatment in any form.
