The 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards has made a notable change: Only women will present this year’s accolades.
All 13 of the evening ceremony’s honors will be doled out by women, led by host Kristen Bell, on Jan. 21. The list of nominees was also announced by women ― Olivia Munn and Niecy Nash ― who shared the stage on Wednesday with three female leaders of the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Although the group has yet to disclose the entire all-female list of presenters, the influential guild decided to exclude men after a series of sexual misconduct accusations toppled powerful figures in Hollywood.
In an interview with The New York Times, the event’s executive producer, Kathy Connell, said she came up withe the idea after attending the Women’s March in Washington in January.
“Women stepped forward in such a huge way in this last year,” Connell told the paper. “I want to salute women who are coming forward to speak at a very difficult time about very difficult subjects at great risk to themselves.”
Bell will be the event’s first solo host, of any gender. Traditionally, The Hollywood Reporter notes, pairs consisting of a man and a woman have presented each statuette.
SAG Awards, now in their 24th year, acknowledge achievement in film and television, with ballots cast from a membership of 160,000 actors, performers, writers and musicians. Along with other guild ceremonies, such as the Producers Guild Awards, the annual SAG Awards are a bellwether for the Academy Awards.
The SAG Awards will be broadcast Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and TBS.