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Emma Stone Criticized for ‘Peak White Feminism’ for Her Best Director Introduction at the Oscars

Her remarks echoed Natalie Portman's at the Golden Globes, but weren't as well received.
Emma StoneVanity Fair Oscar Party, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Mar 2018
Guillermo Del Toro90th Annual Academy Awards, FOX After Party, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Mar 2018
Gary OldmanVanity Fair Oscar Party, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Mar 2018
Angela BassettVanity Fair Oscar Party, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Mar 2018
Timothee Chalamet
Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 04 Mar 2018
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When Natalie Portman announced the “all-male nominees” for Best Director at the Golden Globes, people were pretty into it. (Even Ron Howard, who was standing next to her onstage, got a laugh out of the apparently unscripted moment.) When Emma Stone followed suit last night at the Oscars, people took issue with it.

“It is the director whose indelible touch is reflected on every frame,” Stone said. “It is the director who, shot by shot, scene by scene, day by day, works with every member of the crew to further the story.” Then the controversial part: “These four men, and Greta Gerwig, created their own masterpieces this year.”

Guillermo del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Director moments later, and like fellow nominee Jordan Peele, the “Shape of Water” helmer is a person of color — hence why some have taken umbrage to Stone’s comments. (Del Toro also won the Golden Globe, but Peele was not nominated.) “Peak white feminism from Emma Stone. Pointing out that 4 of the nominees are men while ignoring that 2 of those men are minorities,” wrote one Twitter user, whose sentiments were echoed by several others:

Making matters worse for some is the fact that Stone was involved in a whitewashing controversy when she starred in Cameron Crowe’s “Aloha” as a woman of Chinese and Hawaiian descent:

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