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Rose McGowan blasts fellow actress Natalie Portman for ‘feminist’ Oscars outfit: ‘You are the problem’
Natalie Portman wore a cape at the Oscars that featured the names of female directors who were overlooked this year. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Rose McGowan blasts fellow actress Natalie Portman for ‘feminist’ Oscars outfit: ‘You are the problem’

'Fraud'

Actress and activist Rose McGowan tore into fellow actress Natalie Portman for her demonstratively "feminist" Oscars outfit.

Portman attended Sunday night's Academy Awards wearing a cape embroidered with the names of female directors that she insisted were snubbed from receiving an Oscar nomination.

During her red carpet appearance, Portman said that she donned the cape to "recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year."

What did McGowan say?

McGowan shared the diatribe against Portman on Facebook, where it quickly went viral.

She wrote, "Some thoughts on Natalie Portman and her Oscar 'protest.' The kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery. Brave? No, not by a long shot. More like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do."

McGowan insisted that the Facebook post was not born of bitterness, but of disgust.

"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 added. "What is it with actresses of your ilk? You 'A-listers' could change the world if you'd take a stand instead of being the problem. Yes, you, Natalie. You are the problem. Lip service is the problem. Fake support of other women is the problem."

McGowan pointed out that Portman has been instrumental in perpetuating a fraud that celebrity women care about other celebrity women.

"I was at a Women in Film event that you spoke at once, Natalie," she continued. "You reeled off depressing statistics and then we all went back to our salads. I quickly realized you and the other women speakers (and that joke of an organization) are just ... frauds. You say nothing, you do nothing."

McGowan concluded by insisting Portman "hang up [her] embroidered activist cloak."

"[S}top pretending you're some kind of champion for anything other than yourself," she demanded. "As for me, I'll be over here raising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation. 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."

What did Portman say?

Portman responded to McGowan's criticism in a statement, according to The Guardian.

"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 said in the statement.

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