As always, Hollywood stars rocked the red carpet during the 2020 Academy Awards. Natalie Portman even made a major statement with her own outfit, as she donned a cape which was embroidered with the names of several female directors who were not nominated for the Best Director award. While many praised her outfit for its important message, there were others, like Rose McGowan, who were critical of the move, as they noted that Portman has not worked with many female directors throughout her career. Now, Portman herself is speaking out on that very criticism.
“I find Portman’s type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work. I’m not writing this out of bitterness, I am writing out of disgust. I just want her and other actresses to walk the walk,” McGowan originally wrote on Facebook about Portman’s fashion statement.
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“There is no law that says you need to hire women, work with women, or support women. By all means, you do you. But I am saying stop pretending you’re some kind of champion for anything other than yourself,” she concluded her post. “As for me, I’ll be over here raising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation. That is activism. Until you and your fellow actresses get real, do us all a favor and hang up your embroidered activist cloak, it doesn’t hang right.”
In response to this critique, Portman issued a statement of her own on the matter, as The Hollywood Reporter noted.
“I agree with Ms. McGowan that it is inaccurate to call me ‘brave’ for wearing a garment with women’s names on it. Brave is a term I more strongly associate with actions like those of the women who have been testifying against Harvey Weinstein the last few weeks, under incredible pressure,” Portman’s statement began.
The actor went on to note that while she has only worked with a few female directors on feature films throughout her career, she has worked with women in a variety of projects over the years.
“It is true I’ve only made a few films with women,” she continued. “In my long career, I’ve only gotten the chance to work with female directors a few times – I’ve made shorts, commercials, music videos and features with Marya Cohen, Mira Nair, Rebecca Zlotowski, Anna Rose Holmer, Sofia Coppola, Shirin Neshat and myself. Unfortunately, the unmade films I have tried to make are a ghost history.”
Portman ended her statement by writing that she will continue to advocate for women in the film industry.
“I have had the experience a few times of helping get female directors hired on projects which they were then forced out of because of the conditions they faced at work,” she wrote. “So I want to say, I have tried, and I will keep trying. While I have not yet been successful, I am hopeful that we are stepping into a new day.”
Photo Credit: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for L.A. Dance Project
