Fashion police chief Rose McGowan announced the Oscars’ biggest offender in a Facebook post last night. Natalie Portman, please report to your nearest police station and turn yourself in. The activist and actress called out the activist and actress for her cape embroidered with the names of snubbed female directors, including Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Lulu Wang (The Farewell). “I find Portman’s type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work,†McGowan wrote. “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.†She continued, addressing Portman directly and asking her to work with more female filmmakers. McGowan claims Portman has only worked with two, including when she self-directed A Tale of Love and Darkness, but the Lucy in the Sky actress has also worked with Rebecca Zlotowski and Mira Nair previously. Her production company, which has produced seven movies total, has only produced one female-directed film, Natalie Portman’s A Tale of Love and Darkness. The cape isn’t the first time Portman has spoken up about awarding more female directors. In 2018, she said “And here are the all-male nominees,†while presenting the award for Best Director at the Golden Globes. “As for me, I’ll be over here raising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation,†she closed. “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.â€
Portman responded to McGowan’s criticism in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, saying, “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 added that she has made short films, commercials, and music videos with female directors including “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,†adding that she has tried to use her position to help “get female directors hired on projects which they were then forced out of because of the conditions they faced at work.†Portman ended with a promise to “keep trying. While I have not yet been successful, I am hopeful that we are stepping into a new day.â€