Four of ELLE's nine Women in Hollywood honorees—Eternals stars Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, and Lauren Ridloff—had to cancel their attendance for tonight's ELLE event in Los Angeles due to COVID exposure in a stark reminder that the ongoing pandemic is not yet over. All four were due to give speeches at the event.
ELLE Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia shared the reason for the quartet's absence in her opening remarks. “Welcome to the 27th annual Women In Hollywood,” she started. “I am so deeply grateful to be with you tonight in person...However, the reality of the world we are now living in requires new rules. As you may have heard, the cast of Eternals, who we are honoring here tonight, was just exposed [to COVID], and to keep everyone safe those superheroes are now in super-isolation. Sorry, but that is the new reality.”
Disney put out a statement addressing the incident. "Earlier today we were made aware of a possible exposure to COVID-19, and while all of our talent have tested negative, out of an abundance of caution, we are pivoting to virtual appearances rather than in-person events," the company said.
Jolie, Chan, Hayek, and Ridloff all attended the Eternals premiere in Los Angeles last night. The four spoke in ELLE's Women in Hollywood issue about making the Marvel film and their deep bond. Jolie in particular described them as being like family.
“A lot of times as an actress, you’re that individual strong woman, or you have one sister; you don’t often have this family where you really get to know women and see all the different strengths,” Jolie said. “Gemma’s grace and elegance and the way she walks through the world. Salma’s motherhood and power, and Lauren’s connection and intelligence. Everybody came as themselves. Maybe there’s something to that, that the characters weren’t as far off [from ourselves].”
