• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
MPWsuccess

After vanquishing Trump in court, E. Jean Carroll urges women to focus on the presidential election

Ellie Austin
By
Ellie Austin
Ellie Austin
Editorial Director, Most Powerful Women
Down Arrow Button Icon
Ellie Austin
By
Ellie Austin
Ellie Austin
Editorial Director, Most Powerful Women
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 15, 2024, 12:42 AM ET
E. Jean Carroll
E. Jean Carroll spoke at Fortune's Most Powerful Women event in New York. Photographed by Rebecca Greenfield for Fortune
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

E. Jean Carroll took on former President Donald Trump and won, and now she wants other women to know that they have the strength to do the same.

Recommended Video

Speaking to attendees at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women dinner on Tuesday in New York, Carroll, who won $83.3 million in defamation damages against Trump in January, said that the outcome of the upcoming presidential election may depend on the women’s vote.

“Women could actually win this election,” she told Fortune’s Emma Hinchliffe. “Black women, particularly in the 2020 election, stepped up. And now I think the suburban mothers and suburban women should step up in this election.”

Carroll, a journalist and author, sued Trump for defamation after he called her a liar in 2019 when she publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996. A jury found that Trump’s statements had significantly damaged Carroll’s reputation. It was the second time that Carroll defeated the former president in a courtroom. The previous May, a separate jury found Trump not liable for rape, but guilty of sexually assaulting Carroll and then defaming her by claiming she made the story up. The verdict saw Carroll awarded $5 million, raising the total figure owed to her by Trump to $88.3 million.

Fueled by these victories, Carroll, who was joined onstage by her lawyer Roberta Kaplan, told the audience that she feels “very, very positive” about the power of women to bring about social change, despite significant setbacks to women’s rights including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the recent throwing out of Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction by New York’s highest court. 

“I don’t think we’re going to be stopped, I really don’t,” said Carroll. “We just have to work really hard to help our sisters in the South, getting rights back over their own bodies.”

Carroll has yet to receive her money from Trump but that hasn’t stopped her making big plans for how to spend it. “I’m going to give it to everything Donald Trump hates,” she said. “He stacks the Supreme Court with conservative justices who take away women’s rights over their own bodies. I’m going to put as much as I can [in]to getting women’s rights back over our own bodies. I’m going to give it to making sure women become lawyers, particularly mothers who would like to have some scholarship assistance…Because he doesn’t have a dog, I want to give some to the ASPCA.”

Asked how she copes with being a target of online vitriol among Trump’s supporters, Carroll said that her experience is representative of what many women encounter on social media. “Every woman in this room has people saying terrible things [about them] on X, on Instagram. We all get, ‘you’re ugly, you’re old, you’re shriveled, you don’t deserve this, you’re pathetic, you’re hideous.’ We are all getting it. I am not unusual.” 

The conclusions of her trials, however, make the abuse easier to endure. And Carroll said she felt stirred to be in the same room as so many influential women. 

“A serious woman is an extremely powerful entity,” she warned. “The thing is never to despair—never despair. Always stay positive to be able to pull off what we’ve got to pull off.”

Fortune MPW is one of the world’s preeminent leadership communities, bringing together global executives committed to maximizing their impact on their organizations and on society. Membership includes our invite-only Most Powerful Women Summit, which will take place Oct. 12–14  in Santa Barbara, Calif. Learn more.
About the Author
Ellie Austin
By Ellie AustinEditorial Director, Most Powerful Women
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Ellie Austin is the editorial director of Most Powerful Women at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

rp
CommentaryLaw
Cooley CEO: Big Law won’t survive if it treats AI as just an efficiency tool
By Rachel ProffittJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
astronaut
Commentaryspace
NASA just named an all-male crew for ‘Artemis III’: what’s a woman to do?
By Savanah F.S. Bray, PhDJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
gg
PoliticsElections
‘People are tired of hearing what government can’t do’: Democratic Socialists surge nationwide
By Matt Brown and The Associated PressJune 20, 2026
4 days ago
With the exits of Apple’s Tim Cook and Dow’s Jim Fitterling, the Fortune 500 is losing two groundbreaking gay CEOs—leaving just one 
C-SuiteLeadership
With the exits of Apple’s Tim Cook and Dow’s Jim Fitterling, the Fortune 500 is losing two groundbreaking gay CEOs—leaving just one 
By Phil WahbaJune 20, 2026
4 days ago
Exclusive: Azzi Fudd joins Project B, the international league chasing a billion-dollar opportunity in global basketball
MPWSports
Exclusive: Azzi Fudd joins Project B, the international league chasing a billion-dollar opportunity in global basketball
By Emma HinchliffeJune 19, 2026
5 days ago
Arianna Huffington swears by one boundary to switch off from work every night—and Ralph Lauren’s CHRO says it’s the best thing she’s ever done too
SuccessDay in the Life of a CEO
Arianna Huffington swears by one boundary to switch off from work every night—and Ralph Lauren’s CHRO says it’s the best thing she’s ever done too
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 19, 2026
5 days ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
8 hours ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
Real Estate
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
By Sydney LakeJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.