NEW YORK — The only thing to rival the power of women was the power of the sun.

Handheld fans and jokes helped cool things down on an unseasonably warm afternoon at Variety’s Power of Women luncheon, honoring Mariska Hargitay, Anitta, Amy Schumer and Shonda Rhimes as influential women in their respective careers.

“We are the lucky ones in this tent,” Schumer joked, comparing the shaded front to the direct sunlight at the back of the outdoor tent Thursday at the Upper East Side’s Smithsonian Design Museum, Cooper Hewitt. “I cannot express my empathy more for the back of the room, this feels very Titanic. And there’s just hot fish in front of you, I’m so sorry.”

The women used their time on the mic to champion the philanthropic causes they support: Hargitay powerfully indicted systemic issues she fights with her Joyful Heart Foundation; Anitta honored her Brazilian upbringing in support of Central Única das Favelas; Rhimes praised the power of community at Debbie Allen Dance Academy; and Schumer highlighted mothers’ abilities to get things accomplished with Everytown for Gun Safety.

Amid at times emotional speeches were moments of levity, including introductions by Glenn Close, screenwriter (and Jerry Seinfeld’s daughter) Sascha Seinfeld, Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine and Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria. Comedian, writer and late-night talk show host Amber Ruffin served as host for the afternoon.

Here’s everything we saw from the event.

Mariska Hargitay sheds tears with Glenn Close: ‘She’s Mother Earth’

“I’ve been daunted and overwhelmed for days now for how to introduce in two minutes my extraordinary friend Mariska. How? I mean, she’s, she’s a woman’s woman, she’s a man’s woman. She’s a lioness licking her cubs. She’s one of those extraordinary dogs that sniff out cancer,” Close said.

“She’s like an ancient, mysterious, powerful, voluptuous, female sculpture in an archaeological museum. She’s a comic. She’s a healer. She’s Mother Earth. … Blah, blah, blah,” Close said to an eruption of laughter.

Close then applauded Hargitay’s historic 25-season career as Olivia Benson on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” (“It isn’t just TV for her. It’s life,” Close said.)

“She still finds the heart, the art and the power in her craft. I am in total awe. She is passion. She is empathy. She is philosophy. She is love,” Close said.

Hargitay was rendered speechless, asking for a tissue to wipe her tears before continuing, choking up.

Hargitay spoke about “convictions” and “how impossible it is to reverse mine”: That survivors matter and can reclaim hopeful lives; patriarchal impunity needs to end; rape kit backlogs are unacceptable; and the language around rape has to change.