Natalie Portman has already made one of the most impactful statements of the evening, at the Oscars 2020.
Walking the red carpet on Sunday evening in Los Angeles, the Oscar winner wore a black Dior floor-length dress with gold embellishment, overlaid with a black cape featuring names of several women embroidered in gold thread.
‘How did you decide to do this,’ a journalist asked her on the red carpet, referring to her decision to wear the embroidered cape.
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‘I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year in my subtle way,’ Portman replied, showing off the names, which included Lulu Wang's surname.
Wang was believed to be a frontrunner for a 'Best Director' nomination for her film The Farewell, but found herself absent from the list, prompting criticism for the lack of diversity in the Oscars.
The feminist statement comes amid the lack of recognition for women such as Greta Gerwig – director of the newly-released Little Women – after she was also noticeably absent from the list of ‘Best Director’ nominations.
This isn’t the first time the Black Swan star has made a swipe at Hollywood for failing to recognise female filmmakers.
Last year, the star appeared on stage with director Ron Howard to present the award for ‘Best Director’ at the Golden Globes and highlighted the fact that the five nominees were all male.
‘Here are all the male nominees,’ Portman said before the names of directors such as Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg were read aloud. Many viewers praised Portman for calling out the lack of female representation in the awards ceremony.
In January, producer Issa Rae commented ‘congratulations to those men’ after she announced the 2020 Oscars best director nominees, referencing the lack of women who made the list.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
