Pamela Abdy, Out at Warner Bros., Calls Out Hollywood's Male Directors

At Women in Film's honors, the ex-Warner Bros. film chief said she's feeling 'pure, unadulterated rage' over how women are treated.

A month after losing her job running Warner Bros.' film studio, Pamela Abdy took the stage Thursday night and named her mood. Accepting Women in Film's first Vanguard Award at the Beverly Hilton, she called it "pure, unadulterated rage" over how women are treated in Hollywood, TheWrap reported.

Her sharpest line was aimed at men. "You all show up for each other. Where's that same support for the women directors?" she asked the industry's male directors, according to TheWrap. She called women directors their sisters in storytelling. The ballroom she said it to was mostly women, with only a handful of men in the seats, Variety reported.

She built up to that challenge with a list of what she'd been told over 31 years. She'd been called difficult and combative and told to smile more. She'd been told that movies starring women or directed by women earn less, and that tracking says men won't buy tickets. In Variety's fuller account of the 15-minute speech, she asked why everyone assumes women will bring their kids, partners and parents to so-called male movies, but men won't do the same for stories about women. She added that she's no longer sure tracking reflects reality.

Then she argued that the industry is turning tougher on women, not kinder. A few women reaching the chairperson's office didn't clear a path for the next generation, she said. Her proof was the power rankings: "The men don't have a separate list; they are the list," she said, according to TheWrap. She also told the room that Greta Gerwig made "Barbie," a movie that grossed more than $1.4 billion, and still got called a female director, Variety reported.

The timing hurt. Women in Film named her its honoree on the morning of Oct. 1, Variety reported, while she was still co-chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group with her longtime partner Michael De Luca. That night, the two learned they wouldn't lead the studio after the Skydance deal. Paramount Skydance went on to close its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter noted. Her run had included "Sinners," "One Battle After Another" and "Weapons." She isn't the only one out: Bela Bajaria lost her job as Netflix's chief content officer, and Cindy Holland left her post as Paramount's streaming chief.

Women in Film CEO Kirsten Schaffer put the loss in money terms. Before the show, she told TheWrap that Abdy had a budget to make a wide range of films that mattered to the industry. Schaffer also said many of the group's members are out of work, from cinematographers to craft service crews. TheWrap cited a UCLA study that found the share of women directing theatrical films fell 5% in 2025.

Men did show up for Abdy herself. A taped salute played before her speech included Ryan Coogler, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Tom Cruise and Zach Braff, Variety reported. Sandra Bullock opened the video by joking that Abdy should just say thank you and leave quickly. Nancy Meyers, who presented the award, said that in 46 years of making movies, the women studio heads she'd worked with were nothing like the guys.

Abdy closed on the word she'd heard most. Being called difficult stopped bothering her only after 31 years in the industry, she said. Now, if difficult means fighting to get movies made, she'll put up with the people who can't tell the difference, she said, and keep going. She also told the room she isn't done.

Source: TheWrap, retrieved November 6, 2026. Other sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap (2).