Shawn Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Amandla Stenberg, Pete Davidson Honored at Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood
By Rachel Yang
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Some of Hollywood’s best and brightest turned out at Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood event at Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. The event honored Pete Davidson, Shawn Mendes and Amandla Stenberg. Lili Reinhart was also awarded the H&M Conscious Award for her body positivity and mental health activism.
YouTube star Tyler Oakley introduced the presentation, and Katie Welch, the chief marketing officer of Hourglass Cosmetics, spoke about the brand’s commitment to cruelty free makeup.
“Riverdale’s” Mädchen Amick presented her co-star Reinhart with the Conscious Award, and praised the 21-year-old as “one of the most beautiful, powerful, brave actresses that I’ve ever worked with in my career.” Reinhart has been outspoken in the past about her struggles with body dysmorphia and has criticized magazines for photoshopping her body to achieve unrealistic beauty standards.
“So few influencers were actually willing to talk about their flaws and that’s an idea that I wanted to challenge and that’s when I realized how important it was to stay authentically myself: imperfect but still powerful,” Reinhart said while accepting the award. “Being proud of who you are is a power that not all of us possess but we should all be conscious of the power we have to change someone else’s world, simply by being open about our own faults and creating a caring environment for those who are looking to share their own experiences.”
During the speech, Reinhart also said she chose the American Cancer Association as the organization she wanted H&M to donate to in celebration of her win, in honor of her grandmother who died from cancer.
Remaining authentic was also echoed in honoree Stenberg’s red carpet interview with Variety’s Marc Malkin. “The Hate U Give” star said from a young age she was comfortable with identifying as queer and had queer family members.
“I’ve grown up with the belief that being queer is okay and it’s a word that’s amazing,” the 19-year-old said. “It took me a while to come to the conclusion that I was gay … I am so happy to be myself and to be comfortable, to be public about it.”
“Saturday Night Live” star Davidson was not present for the event, but Mendes, 20, was on hand with Stenberg to accept their honors.
The Canadian crooner, who released his self-titled album this May, revealed to Malkin that he was more nervous to introduce Jennifer Lopez at the Video Music Awards this month than to be the first performer at the show.
“Her winning the Vanguard [Award], it was such a big deal for her, and I did not want to mess that up for her. I wanted it to be as big as it deserved to be, and that was kind of wearing on me,” Mendes confessed.
Mendes was the hit of the party, taking photo with guests and fans. Dancer and social star Maddie Ziegler at one point huddled in a group, talking equally excited and nervous about approaching Mendes. It was a raucous celebration, with celebrities taking photos with and of one another, and booming remixes of SZA and Portugal the Man playing as attendees danced.
Singer Noah Cyrus posted an Instagram video of herself at the event dancing with Fifth Harmony’s Dinah Jane. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres flowed freely, and guests mingled among the gilded decorations in the intimate room and out on the terrace that overlooked skyscrapers and palm trees. Hourglass offered makeup demonstrations and gift bags, and 3 Musketeers had swag on deck, plus a photo wall that guests could stick motivational slogans against.
A mix of young stars from film, television, music and even sports attended the event, including Elsie Fischer (“Eighth Grade”), Kiersey Clemons (“Hearts Beat Loud”), Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”), social influencers Amanda Steele and Jenn Imm, singer Cyrus and Olympian Adam Rippon.
