Andrea Mandell

USA TODAY

BEVERLY HILLS —With hundreds of powerful Hollywood women crowded into a ballroom Friday afternoon, one topic kept coming up: Donald Trump.

The event was Variety’s annual Power of Women luncheon in Hollywood, where stars including Laverne Cox, Scarlett Johansson, Miley Cyrus, Ava DuVernay and Helen Mirren were honored for their commitment to philanthropy.

“We’re here to celebrate women and their p-----s! Or as I like to call them, ‘Trump handles,’ ” deadpanned Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom, who hosted the festivities. Bloom announced she was “going to introduce these women and attempt the rare feat of describing them without adjectives like beautiful, lovely, cute or sexy.”

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She wasn't alone. Later on stage, speaking about her Happy Hippie Foundation, Cyrus slipped in a reference to the "terrifying" responsibility that comes with power and the “villainous vibes that surround power and the poor examples of how too many leaders abuse it."

"Yes," she added, "that’s for Donald Trump."

On the red carpet, Bloom told USA TODAY that disclosure of Trump’s leaked Access Hollywood tape, and the ensuing news cycle, hadn't surprised her.

“Trump has always been a monster,” she said. “I think people like him because he reminds them of their racist, misogynist uncle. And so I’m not shocked that Trump gropes women. Of course he gropes women.”

She added: “What I’m surprised at is the more progress we seem to make on one end, talking about rape culture and looking at female issues and race …(the more) that people dig their heels in the sand even more and become more racist and more misogynist.”

Talk of Hillary Clinton hung in the air, too. Mirren, who was honored for her work with the Stuttering Association for the Young, predicted women would heavily influence the coming election in Clinton's favor. “This is a defining moment,” she said at the podium. “It’s time for the best role model in the White House.”

In Hollywood, there’s “less and less misogyny” compared to 20 or 30 years prior, Mirren told USA TODAY. “There’s a great consciousness about those issues, in spite of what we see in the Access Hollywood tape and the rest of it," she said. "What is said and done behind closed doors ... probably some of those conversations probably would make your hair stand on end. But in public, certainly, there’s great care within Hollywood.”

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Cyrus brought beau Liam Hemsworth to the event, where guests dined on honey lemon-glazed sea bass, risotto and chocolate tarts, and Robert Downey Jr. cracked up the crowd by introducing his Avengers co-star, who was honored for her work with Planned Parenthood, as "ScarJo."

“I’ve been cleared to call her that until 2:15 p.m.,” he joked, adding that at her age (31), “I had just joined the felony of the month club, a subscription that auto-renewed for the better part of a decade.”

Onstage, DuVernay made a point to recognize women behind the scenes in Hollywood, including lawyers, managers and agents. “It is important to me to have an all-women team,” she said. “To make a point about the importance of the woman’s voice in all aspects of the work we choose to do.”

DuVernay’s advice for dealing with misogyny?

“Call it out,” she told USA TODAY. “Confront it when you see it. I just got that from my mother and where I grew up. I grew up in Compton, so people were more blunt.”