Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out, after hitting headlines for wearing a Versace gown at a London photocall, while the male actors alongside her sported coats and scarves.
The Oscar-winning actress is in town to promote ‘Red Sparrow’, and was joined at the Corinthia Hotel by her co-stars Francis Lawrence, Matthias Schoenaerts, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Irons.
Soon after the pictures were published online, a number of Twitter users pointed out that while Jennifer was wearing a revealing dress, the men were wrapped up warm, suggesting this was an indicator of unfair gender expectations.
One tweet in particular, from journalist Helen Lewis, struck a chord and received over 12,000 likes and 500 replies:
Somewhat unexpectedly, Jennifer has now responded to the “controversy”, in a no-holds-barred Facebook post.
In an update posted on Wednesday (21 February), she said: “Wow. I don’t really know where to get started on this ‘Jennifer Lawrence wearing a revealing dress in the cold’ controversy. This is not only utterly ridiculous, I am extremely offended.
“That Versace dress was fabulous, you think I’m going to cover that gorgeous dress up with a coat and a scarf? I was outside for 5 minutes. I would have stood in the snow for that dress because I love fashion and that was my choice.
“This is sexist, this is ridiculous, this is not feminism. Over-reacting about everything someone says or does, creating controversy over silly innocuous things such as what I choose to wear or not wear, is not moving us forward.
“It’s creating silly distractions from real issues. Get a grip people. Everything you see me wear is my choice. And if I want to be cold THATS MY CHOICE TOO!” [sic]
Jennifer arrived in London over the weekend and stopped off at the Baftas to present an award on Sunday (18 February).
This is the second time this week that she’s had her say over tabloid headlines.
On Monday (19 February), the ‘Joy’ star shot down claims that she had been rude to Baftas host Joanna Lumley, explaining that her seemingly shady remarks were actually a reference to an inside joke.