Top Black Women From Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100

The Hollywood Reporter released their annual Power 100 list of the top women in entertainment. The list is meant to celebrate women for their hard work in the industry, noting how they have worked through economic concerns and led groundbreaking and lucrative projects this year.

The list was curated by a host of editors. According to THR, “In creating the 2022 list of entertainment’s top female players, editors considered portfolio sizes, series loads, TV ratings, box office returns, awards, deals, employees overseen, revenue and profit generated, subscriber counts and, let’s be honest, leadership.”

Featured on the list are some of the most influential Black women in the game. Here are seven of them:

First recognized for her work on YouTube web series Awkward Black Girl, Issa Rae has progressed to a household name through her work as an actress, writer, producer, and comedian. As her hit show Insecure came to a close last year, Rae jumped into as many new projects as possible. According to THR, Rae has a five-year overall deal with WarnerMedia via her Hoorae production company, which allowed her to create and executive produce HBO Max comedy Rap Sh!t and start developing a revival of docuseries Project Greenlight. She also landed her third Emmy nomination for best actress in a comedy this year.

Of course Beyoncé is featured as one of the top women in entertainment this year. Her studio album Renaissance came out in July and dominated the charts. With 1 billion streams on Spotify alone, the album was an immense commercial success. Her collaborations with LGBTQ+ DJs and artists for a disco-inspired collection of songs also made the album a critical and cultural win. She’s nominated for nine Grammys ahead of awards season.

Brown is the president of Sony specialty label TriStar Pictures. Brown was promoted to president in 2020. According to THR, in the almost three years since, she has overseen a Viola Davis film package that has grossed over $94 million and is about to release the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

Abbott Elementary is one of the most popular shows on TV right now, and we have Brunson to thank for the hit comedy. As a showrunner, actress, and comedian, she is deeply involved in the entertainment industry. She recently won an Emmy for writing Abbott’s pilot episode.

Busby held a post at TriStar, and is now the president of Original Programming at Starz. Starz currently has a host of popular original programming including Force, Gaslit, and Outlander. She also serves as chair on the North American board for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Lizzo is not only a singer-songwriter, but a professionally trained flutist and producer. She recently won an Emmy for her competition television show Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. She is still currently touring, but has recently put out a documentary with HBO Max called Love, Lizzo. She is also set to release a concert movie with the platform on December 31st.

Pearlena Igbokwe is the chief of NBCUniversal’s television studios, which include Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal Television Alternative and International Studios. According to THR, Igbokwe is in charge of more than 120 projects, including popular shows like The Umbrella Academy and Never Have I Ever.

These women have all helped the entertainment industry grow and prevail in different ways. Whether it is as a musician, actress, or producer, these women have made an impact, along with the other 93 influential women featured on the list this year.