Natalie Portman Wore A Cape To The Oscars Embroidered With Names Of Snubbed Women Directors

"I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way."

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As movie stars arrived for Sunday's Oscars ceremony in Hollywood, one actor used the red carpet to call out the Academy for yet another year nominating only men in the Best Director category.

Natalie Portman wore a black and gold Dior dress accompanied by a black cape that was embroidered with the names of women directors who didn't get a nod in the top directing category.

Some of the names on Portman's cape included Lorene Scafaria, the director of Hustlers; Lulu Wang, who made The Farewell; and Greta Gerwig, who had been tipped to get a nomination for Little Women but didn't make the final cut.

"I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way," she told the Los Angeles Times on the red carpet.

Also on the cape were Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Alma Har'el (Honey Boy), and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).

Nominated instead on Sunday night are Martin Scorsese for The Irishman, Todd Phillips for Joker, Sam Mendes for 1917, Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Bong Joon-ho for Parasite.

This isn't the first time Portman has expressed her displeasure about Hollywood awards voters' tendency to overlook women directors.

In 2018, as she presented with Ron Howard at the Golden Globes, she referenced the "all-male" nominees, which was met with both gasps and applause from the audience.

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Ron Howard: "We are honored ... to be here to present the award for best director." Natalie Portman, done with this shit: "And here are the all-male nominees." 🔥

Only five women have ever been nominated for directing in the history of the Oscars, with Kathryn Bigelow being the only one to ever win (for 2008's The Hurt Locker).

When actor Issa Rae announced this year's crop of nominees, she too offered up a little bit of shade — albeit politely.

"Congratulations to those men," she said.

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