Charlize Theron delivered fired up remarks Saturday about immigration, LGBTQ and women’s rights and the devastating cuts to foreign aid.
“The world feels like it’s burning because it is,” the Oscar winner said at the fifth annual Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program Block Party on the Universal lot. “Here in Los Angeles, in the US and across the globe, we are moving backwards fast. Immigration policy is destroying the lives of families, not criminals. Women’s rights are becoming less and less every day, queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased, and gender-based violence is on the rise. This isn’t just policy, it’s personal. Fuck them.”
She continued, “Foreign aid cuts brought HIV and AIDS programs in my home country of South Africa to an absolute standstill. All of this is not just detrimental, it’s dangerous. People will lose their lives. Many have already unfortunately and at a frightening rate. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering.”
Henry Golding, KiKi Layne, Charlize Theron, Marwan Kenzari at the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project 2025 Block Party held at the Universal Studios Backlot on June 28, 2025 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Variety via Getty Images
Theron did not mention Pres. Trump by name but his administration has made cutting foreign aid a core part of its agenda.
But Theron said she is not without hope. “What we also see, what we cannot miss, is the resistance,” she said. “There is hope, there is power in all of us standing up, organizing, protesting, voting and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal. That spirit of resistance, justice and care for each other, that’s the spirit that drives the work at CTAOP. Although our focus is on the youth in southern Africa, what we’re really talking about here tonight is that all lives should be valued. Everyone should have the right to be healthy and safe and should be able to be seen.”
Theron launched CTAOP 18 years ago to support young people living in her native South Africa. To date, CTAOP-supported programs have reached more than 4.5 million youth and granted $15 million to organizations in southern Africa.
Earlier in the evening, on the red carpet, Theron told me, “It’s quite devastating what’s going to happen…It’s less than one percent of this budget that everyone is talking about and when you compare that to the millions of people that are going to die because of this, it’s devastating. It does feel like this event is a little more important than it was last year.”
Theron says she regularly lobbies elected officials. “We do it quite a bit,” she said, adding, “I will say there are a lot of people who do pick up the phone and are willing to listen and are on our side of understanding.”
The evening also included a live auction of luxury products and experiences as well as a performance by Reneé Rapp.