- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
A Hollywood crowd of about 150 people, including actresses Jennifer Garner, Rita Wilson and Elizabeth Shue, turned out Thursday evening to meet Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and raise money for her gubernatorial bid.
With attendees paying between $150 and $25,000 to attend the event, the group gathered on the rooftop of director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot production studio in Santa Monica. Davis — known for filibustering a Texas anti-abortion bill — addressed the crowd for about a half hour. “She talked about the importance of electing more Democratic women to office,” said one attendee. “You could see from the faces of all the young women there that they thought she was a rock star.”
PHOTOS: 20 Biggest Political Players in Hollywood
The event was co-hosted by Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath, along with Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Marcy Carsey, Monica and Phil Rosenthal, and Lyn and Norman Lear. Spielberg and Katzenberg did not attend, however.
Davis’ arrival in Los Angeles came with bit of fanfare. Earlier in the day, life-sized posters depicting Davis as “Abortion Barbie” were plastered on city street corners. The posters, which were commissioned by a wealthy woman based in Midland, Texas, show Davis’ face superimposed onto a Barbie doll with a toy baby in its abdomen. Printed on the poster were the words: “Hollywood welcomes Abortion Barbie Wendy Davis.”
Davis’ gubernatorial opponent, Republican Gregg Abbott, also used the occasion to criticize his opponent’s Hollywood ties by releasing a Star Wars-themed commercial ridiculing Davis for “rubbing elbows with gun-grabbing, ObamaCare-promoting Hollywood elites.”
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day