Jeanne Beker to Receive IMPACT – Women in Entertainment Canada 2025

Image credit, Publicist

TORONTO — Jeanne Beker, the trailblazing Canadian fashion icon who made glamour and grit household values on television screens across the country, will be honoured with the IMPACT Award at this year’s Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada summit. The second annual event, taking place May 29 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto, will spotlight Beker’s unparalleled influence on media, fashion, and storytelling — and will also feature a keynote interview and exclusive signing of her memoir Heart on My Sleeve: Stories from a Life Well Worn.

The IMPACT Award isn’t just a token of legacy; it’s a recognition of disruption — of rewriting the narrative for women in media by being fearless, visible, and relentlessly vocal. For nearly 50 years, Beker has done exactly that. Whether behind a microphone in Newfoundland, on a red carpet in Paris, or in a Toronto TV studio, she’s been a force, using her platform to amplify women’s voices, showcase authenticity, and bring style journalism into the mainstream.

Beker’s origin story in media is as unconventional as it is inspiring. She kicked off her career as an arts reporter on CBC Radio in St. John’s, before quickly making waves at CHUM radio and co-hosting The New Music on Citytv. By 1983, she was a founding member of MuchMusic and soon became the face of Fashion Television, a cultural juggernaut that ran for 27 years and broadcast in 130 countries. She turned runways into stories and designers into household names, all while proudly wearing her Canadian roots.

But Beker’s career is only part of her impact. The daughter of Holocaust survivors and a breast cancer survivor herself, she’s long understood the stakes of survival — both literal and creative. Her resilience has always been more than a backstory; it’s been the energy that fueled a career filled with pivoting, producing, and pushing boundaries. Through her memoirs, public speaking, and candid discussions about cancer, Beker continues to embolden others to show up boldly and unapologetically, even in the face of fear.

Beyond television, her fingerprints are on Canadian fashion itself — from helming FQ and SIR magazine, to launching clothing lines, to leading Style Matters on The Shopping Channel and producing the documentary Kingdom of Dreams, which dissected the golden age of fashion with the kind of insight only an insider like Beker could offer. With six books under her belt and a podcast that pushed style conversations beyond the superficial, she’s helped redefine fashion journalism as a space of power, perspective, and personal truth.

Her accolades are fitting for someone who shattered glass ceilings in stilettos: the Order of Canada, a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, a Special Achievement Award from the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television, and a Crystal Award from Women in Film and Television. And now, with the IMPACT Award, Jeanne Beker’s influence is being cemented not just as a style authority, but as a builder of cultural legacy.

This year’s Women in Entertainment Canada event will also honour acclaimed actress Tantoo Cardinal with the Equity in Entertainment Award. Additional honourees and programming are set to be announced in the weeks leading up to the summit, but one thing is clear: the Hollywood Reporter isn’t just celebrating women in entertainment — it’s celebrating the ones who refuse to play by the old rules. Jeanne Beker has spent a lifetime rewriting them.

And for that, she’s not just earned an award — she’s earned a moment.