Halle Berry went scorched earth on Gavin Newsom during Wednesday’s New York Times’ DealBook Summit, calling out the California governor for vetoing a menopause bill while also crapping on his aspirations to potentially become the next president.
The Academy Award-winning actress took to the stage at the NYT event to give a speech about menopause, during which she pointed out Newsom had vetoed California’s menopause bill two years in a row.
Berry didn’t hold back, telling the packed crowd … “But that’s okay, because he’s not going to be governor forever, and the way he has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either.”
If Newsom had passed the bill, it would have required certain health plans and insurers to cover the costs of evaluation and treatment for perimenopause and menopause symptoms. It would have also incentivized or required doctors who have more than 25 percent women under 65 as patients to complete medical education coursework on menopause care.
After Berry finished her speech, it just so happened Newsom was the next guest to appear onstage with host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who interviewed the governor about what changes the democratic party needs to make after losing the 2024 presidential election.
During the Q&A, Newsom never addressed Halle’s critique of him. But, his spokesperson later issued a statement to TMZ, saying the governor deeply admires Halle’s advocacy and looks forward to working with her on this “critical issue” because he shares her goal of expanding access to menopause care.
Newsom also said he vetoed the bill because it would have “unintentionally raised health care costs for millions of working women and working families already stretched thin.”
