Natalie Portman Shows Up at Oscars With a ‘Powerful’ Feminist Message Hidden on Her Designer Cape

Academy award winner Natalie Portman delivered a statement about Hollywood’s record on gender equality with a Dior cape embroidered with the names of female directors.

Portman said on the Oscars red carpet on Sunday that she wanted to “recognize the women who are … not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way.”

Included on Portman’s outfit were the names of women directors Lulu Wang, Alma Har’el Greta Gerwig, Lorene Scafaria, Melina Matsoukas, Marielle Heller, Mari Diop and Céline Sciamma.

Many social media commenters, particularly feminists, praised Portman for her “powerful” message.

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In 2018, the actress made waves while presenting at the Golden Globes, when she pointedly highlighted the fact that all the nominees for best director were male.

“Here are the all-male nominees,” she said before reading off the names of Martin McDonagh, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan.

Portman is no stranger to expressing sometimes radical views in service of the women’s rights cause.

In April of last year, she suggested all feminists should be vegans while speaking at the youth-activism celebration WE Day in Los Angeles.

“Dairy and eggs don’t just come from cows and chickens, they come from female cows and female chickens,” Portman said. “We’re exploiting female bodies and abusing the magic of female animals to create eggs and milk.”

#OscarsSoWoke

The 2020 Oscars were chock full of moments that laid bare Hollywood’s alignment with progressive ideals.

Advocates of the LGBT community celebrated “Pose” star Billy Porter for his daring grand entrance at Sunday’s Oscars red carpet.

Porter, who has shown up at red carpets in the past year with headline-grabbing, gender-fluid outfits, kicked off the 92nd Academy Awards celebrations in a Giles Deacon custom couture outfit, donning a gold-feathered top and a voluminous printed gown paired with custom Jimmy Choo shoes – also golden.

Meanwhile, actress and singer Janelle Monae delivered a racially conscious message during a pre-show interview with Porter.

“I think the important takeaway is to listen to black women,” Monae said when asked about her role in “Harriet,” a movie about the life of slavery-era hero Harriet Tubman. “When we are in positions of leadership, when we have your support we can do the unthinkable.”

Julia Reichert, the co-director of “American Factory,” appeared to invoke a communist slogan while accepting the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

“Working people have it harder and harder these days — and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,” Reichert said, echoing the last lines of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ Communist Manifesto, in which the German philosophers declare: “Workers of the World, Unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains!”

MORE: Billy Porter Thrills Twitter by Showing Up to Oscars in a Dress and Gold Feather Vest: ‘Stunning’

(Reuters contributed to this report.)

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