Rose McGowan has condemned Natalie Portman's homage to female directors on the Oscars red carpet as an empty gesture and "lip service."
The outspoken actress, activist and Harvey Weinstein accuser published a scathing Facebook post about Portman's customized cape (that had names of female directors embroidered on it), calling it "deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work."
She called Portman's gesture "the kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery," but reduced it to "an actress acting the part of someone who cares."
McGowan called on Portman and other A-listers to "walk the walk" of activism by actually working for and hiring female filmmakers.
"Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career — one of them was you," she wrote. "You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director — you."
To be fair, in addition to her own work as a director, Portman has worked with Mira Nair on New York, I Love You and Rebecca Zlotowski on Planetarium. Her production company also hired Lynne Ramsay on Jane Got a Gun, but she was later replaced by Gavin O'Connor.
Portman is also one of the founding members of the Time's Up movement, which raised $22 million USD in its first year to benefit women in fields far beyond entertainment.
"I am singling you out because you are the latest in a long line of actresses who are acting the part of a woman who cares about other women," McGowan continued. "Actresses who supposedly stand for women, but in reality do not do much at all… 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."
Read McGowan's full post below.
The outspoken actress, activist and Harvey Weinstein accuser published a scathing Facebook post about Portman's customized cape (that had names of female directors embroidered on it), calling it "deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work."
She called Portman's gesture "the kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery," but reduced it to "an actress acting the part of someone who cares."
McGowan called on Portman and other A-listers to "walk the walk" of activism by actually working for and hiring female filmmakers.
"Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career — one of them was you," she wrote. "You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director — you."
To be fair, in addition to her own work as a director, Portman has worked with Mira Nair on New York, I Love You and Rebecca Zlotowski on Planetarium. Her production company also hired Lynne Ramsay on Jane Got a Gun, but she was later replaced by Gavin O'Connor.
Portman is also one of the founding members of the Time's Up movement, which raised $22 million USD in its first year to benefit women in fields far beyond entertainment.
"I am singling you out because you are the latest in a long line of actresses who are acting the part of a woman who cares about other women," McGowan continued. "Actresses who supposedly stand for women, but in reality do not do much at all… 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."
Read McGowan's full post below.