Cheryl Saban is feeling festive. It is Halloween, and she is pleased with her decision to break away from her predictable witch costume and instead, morph into a sushi chef. βIt was a last-minute random costume with things I found in the basement. My husband and I are sushi freaks; heβs been working with Japanese cartoons for over 30 years,β the 62-year-old Saban explains, adding with a laugh, βPlus, I have great geisha shoes.β
Really, Saban should have considered going as Wonder Woman especially as the DC Comics heroine is so close to her own real-life persona that itβs very nearly her alter ego. Both fight for justice, love, peace and sexual equality. They differ in that Saban prefers elegant Alexander McQueen creations to revealing star-spangled cat suits and capes.
A perfect example of her ability to do everything effortlesslyΒ is that she manages to sound so insouciant after having hosted a star-studded fundraiser for Terry McAuliffeβs Virginia gubernatorial campaign at her Beverly Hills compound just one day prior. But then again, throwing a party, even one that started at $15,000 per plate and was attended by Harvey Weinstein and headliner Hillary Clinton is small potatoes to Saban. After all, she is not only a world-renowned philanthropist and womenβs rights activist, but is a former Obama-appointed United Nations Special Ambassador, an author, PH.D. psychologist and founder of the Womenβs Self-Worth Foundation, which provides micro-financing programs to women in the U.S. and Israel. She is a force to be reckoned with.
Saban is so influential that she has been asked to moderate a panel of fellow dominant women at Angella Nazarian and Beth Friedmanβs inaugural Los Angeles WOMEN A.R.E. summit Nov. 7, and she couldnβt be happier to be surrounded by proactive peers like Abigail Disney, Sharon Stone, Wallis Annenberg and Barbara Guggenheim. βWhen women want to get together to talk about doing good things, I think thatβs spectacular,β Saban says. βIβm very grateful to all the women who are willing to step out of their very comfortable lives to make a difference.β This includes Saban herself. She has made it her priority to give back to the organizations that she has a personal connection to, of which include the Marc & Jane Nathanson Mental Health Resource Center at UCLA, the Los Angeles Rape Center, Plan International, Women for Women International and the Womenβs Funding Network; she also sits on the board of Trustees of Childrenβs Hospital Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Free Clinic.
βAll of us have the ability to do something,β she says. βI came from very moderate means, as did my husband [billionaire media mogul and Democratic political party donor Haim Saban]. We pulled our lives together by our own blood, sweat and tears. I often say that I learned things in the school of hard knocks. I was always an advocate for women having a seat at the table, a bigger voice, because I thought it was taken away from me. I was raped when I was 18 and I was treated so badly by the police that I carried away a really deep wound.βSaban is stating a fact and there is no hint of lingering emotion behind her words. She is indomitable: her past has not broken her β she is stronger because of it. With this strength comes a conviction that she must give back to those who have helped her.
βThe reason that we give to the free clinic is because I needed to go there one time myself. A lot of the things [Haim and I] do have a personal connection. Iβm very involved with the Childrenβs Hospital because I once had to take my daughter there; they were so good to her. When I had the opportunity to give them something, I gave big because of my personal connectionβ. She adds, βNot everyone can give monetarily, but they can give something of themselves. We need women to be inspired to do things.β Saban herself is both inspired and admires fellow power women like former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing, ImpreMedia, LLC CEO Monica Lozano, UN Womenβs Lakshmi Puri, the Walt Disney Companyβs Anne Sweeney and media magnate Arianna Huffington. It is, of course, dear friend Hillary Clinton who tops Sabanβs list of heroes. β[Hillary] has been a friend for a long time. Sheβs a champion for women; sheβs brilliant,β Saban praises.
She finds Clinton so amazing, in fact, that it is her hope that her friend will once again enter the presidential race in 2016. βAll of us who adore her hope [sheβll run],β Saban says, though she is loath to speak on Hillaryβs behalf. βI canβt answer that question [as to whether sheβll run] for her; it wouldnβt be fair β sheβs not answering that question. Do I think she would be an amazing president? Yes. I think she has earned it. She has a wealth of information about how the world works; sheβs been around this planet. Sheβs dealt with complicated issues and different cultures. Sheβs proven that sheβs able to communicate with all different groups. Sheβs a tough negotiator. All I can say is that Iβll be right there throwing my hat in the ring.β
Until that day, Saban will continue to focus on her philanthropic endeavors, her continued fight for womenβs rights, supporting our current president, Barack Obama (whom she also is hosting a fundraiser for at her home this November), her family and her husband, the love of her life. βItβs a luxury to have a long-term loving relationship,β she says. β[Haim and I] love each other madly. We kiss and hug and touch each other all the time. We canβt go without it. I feel blessed to have a good, tight-knit family and strong friendships: those things you cannot buy with any amount of money. If you donβt have them, you suffer. Haim and I will do everything in our power to keep that part of our lives precious. Anything else is not an option.β