Emma Stone Accused of ‘White Feminism’ for Oscars Comment

Emma Stone was accused of “white feminism” on Twitter after introducing the Best Director Oscar nominees as “four men and Greta Gerwig.” She was criticized for ignoring the diversity of the men nominated, as the field included black filmmaker Jordan Peele and Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro.

Before the 29-year-old, who won Best Actress last year for La La Land, introduced the nominees, she told the crowd, “These four men and Greta Gerwig created their own masterpieces this year.” Some online theorized that she was trying to repeat Natalie Portman’s viral moment at the Golden Globes in January, when she took a swipe at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for only nominating men for Best Director.

But Stone’s comment was not as widely embraced as Portman’s, with several people criticizing it as “white feminism.”

“Peak white feminism from Emma Stone. Pointing out that 4 of the nominees are men while ignoring that 2 of those men are minorities,” one Twitter user wrote.

When the HuffPost celebrated Stone’s comment, one Twitter user wrote, “Except for the part where she minimized the incredible achievements of a Black man and a Mexican immigrant in the name of white feminism. Shame on Emma Stone. It was their night too.”

“OK Emma Stone being like ‘four male directors and Greta Gerwig’ or whatever tf she said is exactly what we mean by white feminism,” another Twitter user wrote. “Jordan Peele and Guillermo Del Toro are not white men that had everything easily handed to them and they don’t deserve to be classified as such.”

Several others pointed out that Stone infamously played an Asian character in Cameron Crowe’s box office bomb Aloha. They also remember her working for Woody Allen in Irrational Man and Magic in the Moonlight.

Del Toro won the Best Director Award for The Shape of Water, beating out Gerwig, Peele, Phantom Thread‘s Paul Thomas Anderson and Dunkirk‘s Christopher Nolan. Four of the last five Best Director winners are Mexican filmmakers.

The Shape of Water also won Best Picture.