Rose McGowan is taking a stand… against the stand Natalie Portman recently made.
The Scream actress and #MeToo activist has a problem with the cape Portman wore to the 2020 Oscars and in a scathing Facebook post, she let the world — and Natalie — know it.
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Rose McGowan knows a thing or two about shocking dresses.
In 1998, the Scream actress wore her infamous “naked dress” to the VMAs, alongside then-fiancé, Marilyn Manson.
It was the dress that began it all: the naked dress trend.
At the 2014 VMAs, Amber Rose took a page from McGowan by wearing a similar dress.
Rose’s was much more modest, as hers featured dangling silver chains that covered up her front-half.
While the dresses at this year’s Oscar awards were much more modest, some still made a huge impact on the evening.
Case in point: the cape that Natalie Portman wore to the event.
The cape, which hung over Portman’s black-and-gold Dior gown, sent a strong message about women everywhere.
It had the names of the female directors who weren’t nominated for an Oscar embroidered on the hem.
“I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in a subtle way,” Natalie said in this video.
Greta Gerwig ( Little Women ), Lorena Scafaria ( Hustlers ), Lulu Wang ( The Farewell ), and Marielle Heller ( ABeautiful Day in the Neighborhood ) were among the names on Portman’s cape.
It’s not the first time that she has called out a lack of female directors either.
At the 2018 Oscars, Portman made sure to call out “all the men” that were being nominated for directing.
Honestly, people were PRAISING her for it then, and people are praising her for it now.
This is Natalie Portman’s world and we are just living in it.
Of course, you had some people on Twitter who were trying to tear her down, but there were enough fans to support the actress that the haters weren’t really heard.
All except one.
Rose McGowan had a lot to say on the subject.
The star is very open about her thoughts and opinions, even to the point that it makes some people uncomfortable (but that’s probably the point).
While so many people loved the “Black Swan” actress taking a bold stand, McGowan, a known #MeToo activist, took a different stand.
In a post shared to her Facebook page, she wrote that she found Natalie’s cape to be “deeply offensive.”
She began by writing that she’s not writing this “out of bitterness” but “out of disgust.”
She simply found Portman to be an “actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do,” she wrote.
“I just want her and other actresses to walk the walk.”
She then called out the actress, who presented an award at the Oscars that night, for working with female directors before — one of which, was herself.
McGowan’s facts weren’t right, though, since Portman has actually worked with three female directors in films before.
“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,” she wrote, also including a vomit emoji.
“Yes, you, Natalie. You are the problem. Lip service is the problem. Fake support of other women is the problem.”
She continued: “As I wrote in my book “Brave”, what goes on behind the screen, goes onscreen, goes into the world. And it’s a pervasive sickness that needs its own medicine.”
“What you do affects the world, Natalie. As does what you do not do.”
She went on to explain her reasoning for “singling” Portman out.
“I am singling you out because you are the latest in a long line of actresses who are acting the part of a woman who cares about other women,” she wrote.
“Actresses who supposedly stand for women, but in reality do not do much at all. Of course women in the world will keep buying the perfumes you promote, the movies you make, and think they’re buying into who you are. But who are you?”
She then recalled a memory of seeing Natalie speak at an event on behalf of women.
“I was at a Women in Film event that you spoke at once, Natalie. 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,” she continued.
“There is no law that says you need to hire women, work with women, or support women. By all means, you do you. But I am saying stop pretending you’re some kind of champion for anything other than yourself.”
“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.”
McGowan concluded her post by sharing what she believes to be true definition of activisim.
“As for me, I’ll be over here raising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation. That is activism.”
Some people on Twitter were quick to say that Rose wasn’t doing much better than Portman anyway, since she was attacking a woman.
It’s all very complicated.
As for Natalie Portman, she responded to it with a surprising answer.
While a lot of people were expecting a clap back, the celeb actually had a very put together answer.
Portman agreed that she isn’t brave for wearing what she wore.
“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,” she said.
Her statement continues by pointing out the fact that she will continue to do what she can for women, and continue to speak out against injustice.
You can read her entire statement here.
Whose side are you taking? Rose or Natalie? Let us know in the comments!
