Natalie Portman leads protest over Best Director gender imbalance at 2020 Oscars

As the stars hit the red carpet for the Oscars, Natalie Portman took a stylish swipe at all-male directors. In Dior, no less.

Natalie Portman's Dior Haute Couture cap was embroidered with the names of all the female directors who weren't nominated for Oscars. Pictures: Agencies

Oscar winner Natalie Portman made the first political statement of the night on the 2020 Oscars red carpet … and she did it in Dior, no less.

Natalie Portman’s Dior cape, resplendent with the names of top female directors. Picture: AFP

Portman, who won the 2010 Best Actress gong for her portrayal of a ballerina losing her grip on reality in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, wore a Dior Haute Couture cape embroidered with the names of female directors who weren’t nominated in 2020.

The likes of Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Lulu Wang (The Farewell) and Melina Matsoukas (Queen and Slim) were all featured on the cape in what Portman described as a “subtle” protest.

Nominated for Best Director this year were five men — Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time … in Hollywood), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), Sam Mendes (1917), Todd Phillips (Joker) and Martin Scorsese (The Irishman).

“I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year in my subtle way,” Portman told reporters on the red carpet.

Natalie Portman embroidered her Dior cape with all of the female directors who weren't nominated for #Oscars. Check out her explanation here. pic.twitter.com/kyyo2wVMZf

— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) February 10, 2020

It follows a similar rebuke from Portman last year, when she presented the best director award at the Golden Globes and ad libbed: “Here are the all male nominees.”

Portman wasn’t alone in criticising the academy for their choices for Best Director, with singer-songwriter Janelle Monae lending her voice to the cause.

“Tonight we celebrate all the incredible women directors who made films this year. I’m so proud to be standing here as a black queer artist telling stories,” she said.

2 black queer artists opened the 2020 #Oscars!!! This performance was amazing! Janelle Monae and Billy Porter are very talented badasses. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/coqtTiLw69

— Sally Hunt🌹 (@sallyhunt666) February 10, 2020

Actresses and comediennes, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, voiced their displeasure almost as subtly as Portman when they opened their presentation of the Production Design award with this humorous exchange.

Rudoph: “We’re upset.”

Wiig: “Oh are we upset.”

Rudolph: “We’re POed. Frankly I’m seeing red.”

Wiig: I’m ticked off.

Rudolph: “I’m teed off. I’m steamed.”

Wiig: “I can’t do this. We’re too upset.”

* breathe *

Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are having the most fun humanly possible. https://t.co/8kz7m5vtnF #Oscars pic.twitter.com/B01ZABKPKB

— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2020

Wiig: “That was an act.”

Rudolph: “We were acting.”

Wiig: “We just know there are a lot of directors here tonight.”

Rudolph: “And we just wanted them to know we can do more than comedy.”

And fellow comedians Chris Rock and Steve Martin, taking to the stage early in the awards ceremony, mused:

Martin: “I thought there was something missing this year.”

Rock: “Vaginas?”

Steve Martin: "Think how much the Oscars have changed in the past 92 years...back in 1929, there were no black acting nominees."

Chris Rock: "And now in 2020, we got one." https://t.co/NJ7Y0X0Wco #Oscars pic.twitter.com/R3vfruEEvn

— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2020

They also lamented the lack of black acting nominees.

Rock: “Cynthia (Erivo) did such a great job in Harriet hiding black people, that the Academy got her to hide all the black nominees! Is Eddie Murphy under this stage?”

Martin: “Think how much the Oscars have changed in the past 92 years...back in 1929, there were no black acting nominees.”

Rock: “And now in 2020, we got one.”

Martin: “Amazing growth!”

Photos: Glitz, glamour on Oscars red carpet

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