Eva Longoria Talks Supporting Women and Pregnancy at Global Gift Foundation Empowerment Luncheon
Eva Longoria is just days away from welcoming her first child with husband Josė Bastón, but that isn’t slowing her down. The actress/producer/director hosted the Global Gift Foundation Women’s Empowerment Luncheon & Speaker Panel at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Los Angeles where she revealed the challenges of her third trimester.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Eva Longoria attends Eva Global Gift Foundation Usa Women's Empowerment Luncheon at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Yardbird Southern Table & Bar)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Eva Longoria attends Eva Global Gift Foundation Usa Women's Empowerment Luncheon at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Yardbird Southern Table & Bar)
“I’m eight and a half months pregnant. I can’t breath and I’m wearing a SPANX that are way too tight. Why am I wearing this SPANX? I heard there were pregnancy SPANX and got so excited, so I tried it and realized it was dumb,” she said laughing to the room full of ladies, which included her celebrity friends Melanie Griffith, Rosanna Arquette, Courtney Lopez and Brooke Burke.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Courtney Lopez, Patricia Arquette, Eva Longoria, Melanie Griffith and Brooke Burke attend the Eva Global Gift Foundation Usa Women's Empowerment Luncheon at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Yardbird Southern Table & Bar)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Courtney Lopez, Patricia Arquette, Eva Longoria, Melanie Griffith and Brooke Burke attend the Eva Global Gift Foundation Usa Women's Empowerment Luncheon at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Yardbird Southern Table & Bar)
The former “Desperate Housewives” star looked stunning in a black dress and heels but told press, “I can’t be on my feet for too long” as she walked down the red carpet.
However, she did take the time to express her enthusiasm for the event to The Voluntourist.
“I always get excited about these empowerment luncheons because you get together some really great women, not just famous women, just really great women who are doing important things in their communities. So taking the lessons and advice and guidance that we hear in this room and applying it to the world and applying it to your workplace and to your home life… it’s important.”
“I have a sister with special needs who really inspired my philanthropic journey and it’s the reason why I give back today. When we were young my sister, who is mentally disabled, she went to an integrated high school. We were very nervous because we thought she’d be bullied and made fun of, but we wanted her to have the most normal experience as possible. So we bought her a letterman jacket and a graduation ring when she became a senior.”
She continued, “One day she came home and somebody had stolen her jacket–her letterman jacket. I was so mad. I was like 10, but I remember being so mad. Who would steal a special needs kid’s jacket? I was like, “Lisa who stole your jacket?” She was like, “Somebody who must have been cold.” I know I’m going to cry now! It was that day where I was like, “Oh my gosh, I want to have her outlook on life all the time.” She put herself in somebody else’s shoes. She didn’t think they were stealing her jacket, she thought they needed her jacket.”
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Eva Longoria attends the Eva Global Gift Foundation Usa Women's Empowerment Luncheon at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar on May 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Yardbird Southern Table & Bar)
Since then, the actress has not only been vocal about human rights and other causes, but she started the Eva Longoria Foundation that aims to help Latinas build better futures for themselves through education.
