First Lady Jill Biden To Be Featured Speaker At “Unreasonable Conversation” Entertainment Social Impact Event

EXCLUSIVE: First Lady Jill Biden will be the featured speaker at Monday’s A Day Of Unreasonable Conversation, a social impact event featuring entertainment industry figures and activists.

Biden will take part in a conversation with Halle Berry to talk about the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Their talk will delve into how cultural figures and content can advance conversation’s about the topic.

The first lady is heading to Southern California today for a round of fundraising and an appearance this weekend at the Los Angeles Human Rights Campaign dinner.

Others taking part in the Getty Center event include Paris Hilton, Yvette Nicole Brown, Christine Blasey Ford, Amy Spitalnick and Sitarah Pendleton-Eaglin. The lineup includes Jane Fonda, Cord Jefferson, Yusef Salaam, Charli d’Amelio, Dorian Warren, Maurice Mitchell, Sinead Bovell, Angela Patton, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Chanel Miller, Clark Kimerer, X Mayo, Sage Lenier, Sharon Lavigne, Alaphia Zoyab, Patti Davis, 2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson, Ana Zamora, W. Kamau Bell, Michele Norris, Dr. Jonathan Metzl and Gloria Calderón Kellett.

Phoebe Robinson will emcee the invite-only event, which will include panels, performances and one-on-one chats. It was founded by social impact agency Propper Daley, with partner agency Invisible Hand as creative directors. Kerry Washington is co-chairing the event with her Simpson Street producing partner Pilar Savone.

Among the topics and other speakers: Hilton will participate in a discussion with Murthy and Paramount Media Networks & MTV Entertainment Studios’ Sitarah Pendelton-Eaglin on the mental and physical effects of loneliness.

Also, Maria Ressa, the Nobel Prize winning journalist, will speak about the threat of disinformation via generative AI on social media; and Prentice Penny, the showrunner of HBO’s Insecure, who will talk about the emergence of “Black Twitter.”

WGA West board member Adam Conover will talk about labor practices and the recent strike; Brown and author Stephanie Land will speak about Land’s works, including Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education; Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) will speak with Baratunde Thurston about the vulnerabilities to democracy at a time when more people across the globe will be exercising the right to vote; and journalist Mónica Guzmán will be joined by her parents, Mexican immigrants who twice voted for Donald Trump, in a conversation moderated by Krista Tippett.

The day will also feature performances by Kesha, Trombone Shorty, Sarah Jones, Ben Palmer, Brandon Kazen-Maddox and the Crenshaw High School Marching Band.

In a statement, Propper said that the event “is designed to be a little bit provocative” and “uniquely able to spark genuine aha moments that inspire attendees to approach their work as storytellers differently.” 

Savone said that the event was “a unique opportunity for us to challenge our thinking, hear new perspectives, and ultimately shape the new narratives coming out of the entertainment industry.”