Cate Blanchett is many things: a two-time Academy Award winner, the portrayer Lydia Tár, the survivor of a chain-saw accident, and an established philanthropist. What she is not, however, is middle-class. On Monday, while attending the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the actress was prompted to discuss her experience as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N., as well as her work to provide opportunities to refugee filmmakers, when she struck a nerve.
“I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle-class,” Blanchett said, as shared in a TikTok by the Associated Press. “I think, you know, one can be accused of having a bit of a white-savior complex, but to be perfectly honest, my interaction with the refugees in the field and also in resettled environments has totally changed my perspective on the world.”
@apnews From @AP Entertainment: In Cannes, Cate Blanchett reflects on her experience as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, and the importance of giving filmmakers who are refugees a platform to tell their stories.
♬ original sound - The Associated Press
While she gets credit for acknowledging her racial and economic privilege, Blanchett seemed to confound TikTok by categorizing herself — a woman with a reported $95 million net worth — as “middle-class.” “I love Cate Blanchett, but in what world is she ‘middle class’ she’s been in two major franchises and is worth an estimated 90 million,” one commenter wrote. In her defense, maybe she was comparing herself to Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk? In the future, might I suggest she leave it at “white” and “privileged”? That’s plenty descriptive. For next time!