Natalie Portman calls out the sexist Best Director category while presenting the Golden Globe

At the 75th Golden Globe Awards it seems the Time’s Up movement was about more than calling out the sexual harassment culture of Hollywood, but the sexism too.

Natalie Portman did just that during the show when she came onstage with Ron Howard to present the Best Director award, a category filled entirely by men.

While Howard – who is currently directing the new Solo: A Star Wars Story movie – introduced the category, Portman pointedly said “And here are the all-male nominees.”

Howard opened his mouth in slight shock after his presenting partner’s jab while the all-male nominees looked uncomfortable as the camera panned to their faces as each of their names were called out.

This year saw Guillermo del Toro win for The Shape of Water and beating the likes of Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World) and Steven Spielberg (The Post).

Del Toro looked ruffled as he accepted the award for his Cold War-era set love story starring Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones and Michael Shannon.

Last year, when the nominations revealed that no women had been recognised in the Best Director category many people were upset; 2017 was arguably one of the best years for female directors.

Patty Jenkins – one of only four women ever to direct a movie with more than a $100 million budget – earned both critical and commercial acclaim for Wonder Woman, which made $821,847,012 at the international box office, but was snubbed.

Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig was also overlooked despite having one of the best reviewed movies of 2017 and briefly holding a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes until one critic decided to give it a bad review to bring its score down.

Equally, Dee Rees was overlooked for her Netflix feature film Mudbound, which included a Golden Globe nominated performance by Mary J. Blige.

People watching the show were quick to notice and respond to Portman’s dig. Shonda Rimes praised the Annihilation star for calling it “for what it is” while actress Amber Tambyln tweeted that she was “DEAD” after the honest remark.

While Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker pointed out the brilliant timing of Portman’s remark.

“The wild thing about Portman’s gesture was the fabulous brass of it: by inserting those words into the award intro (rather than a winner’s speech), she guaranteed that the next five shots would be the nominee’s faces,” she tweeted.

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