In case you missed it, Natalie Portman attended the Oscars this weekend wearing a cape embroidered with the names of several women who had been snubbed for Best Director this year.
Her cape had the names of directors like Greta Gerwig, Lorene Scafaria, and Lulu Wang — all of whom had been shut out of the (all-male nominated) category by the Academy.
Many people praised Natalie for making a statement with her outfit, but one person was NOT impressed: Rose McGowan.
In a message posted to her Facebook yesterday, McGowan called Portman's statement "offensive," referred to her as a "fraud," and admonished those who were calling her "brave." She then claimed Portman had only ever worked with two female directors in her career:
Natalie, you have worked with two female directors in your very long career — one of them was you. You have a production company that has hired exactly one female director — you.
She also accused Natalie of "acting the part of a woman who cares about other women":
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. 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," she concluded.
Well, Natalie just released a statement in response to Rose's criticisms.
“I agree with Ms. McGowan that it is inaccurate to call me ‘brave’ for wearing a garment with women’s names on it,” she wrote. “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 went on to address McGowan's claim that she's only worked with two female directors, one being herself:
It is true I’ve only made a few films with women. 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 went on to describe the challenges that female filmmakers face "at every level":
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. After they are made, female-directed films face difficulty getting into festivals, getting distribution and getting accolades because of the gatekeepers at every level.
"So I want to say, I have tried, and I will keep trying," she said. "While I have not yet been successful, I am hopeful that we are stepping into a new day.”
