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Just as The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion was praised online for her ruthless takedown of actor Sam Elliott for bashing her movie, she was under fire the next day for making a thoughtless comment about tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams cited as an example of the toxic nature of White feminism.
During her acceptance speech for best director at Sunday's Critics Choice Awards, Campion addressed the tennis legends in the room and said:
“Venus and Serena, you’re such marvels. However, you don’t play against the guys, like I have to.”
Jane Campion accepting her #CriticsChoiceAwards for Best Director saying \u201cVenus and Serena you\u2019re marvels but you don\u2019t have to compete against the men like I do\u201dpic.twitter.com/eQZpabGI9V— Will Mavity (@Will Mavity) 1647222703
The Williams sisters were attending the ceremony as the subjects of the critically-lauded film, King Richard, for which Will Smith won the best actor award for his portrayal of their father and tennis coach, Richard Dove Williams Jr.
“What an honor to be in the room with you,” Campion told the tennis stars while holding her trophy.
She then told Will Smith she's taken up tennis and would "truly love it" if he came over to give tennis lessons.
"I actually had to stop playing because I’ve got tennis elbow," she said, laughing.
Campion went on to acknowledge "the guys," her fellow nominees in her category–all of whom were male directors–including, Paul Thomas Anderson Licorice Pizza, Kenneth Branagh Belfast, Guillermo del Toro Nightmare Alley, Steven Spielberg West Side Story, and Denis Villeneuve Dune.
It was after that moment she referred back to Venus and Serena and compared her struggles against theirs with the "you don't play against the guys" remark.
You can hear her speech that one Twitter user called "cringe commentary", here.
Here's the clip of Jane Campion's speech\n#CriticsChoiceAwardspic.twitter.com/pucAsmE2JF— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1647227264
While her statement resonated with a handful of the ceremony attendees, the reaction was a completely different story online.
Social media users slammed her for the comment many thought was tone-deaf, sexist and an example of toxic White feminism.
White woman fragility at its finest. She'll tackle the patriarchy, but she just showed she's definitely white before woman. Got to raise herself just a bit higher by belittling two much more famous, accomplished, and talented black women (who have also beat men in their field).— \ud83d\udc1dJanet Cypher\ud83d\udc1d\u270d\ufe0f\ud83d\ude8e\ud83d\ude8f\ud83c\udf09\u2708\ufe0f (@\ud83d\udc1dJanet Cypher\ud83d\udc1d\u270d\ufe0f\ud83d\ude8e\ud83d\ude8f\ud83c\udf09\u2708\ufe0f) 1647231657
With this offensive speech, Jane Campion expressed why she thinks she is superior over two more famous and much more accomplished Black women. Typical White feminist microaggressions. \n\nWhatever movie she made, I want no part of watching.pic.twitter.com/Zu5bQC7iRg— I \ud83d\udc9b Us! \ud83c\udf3b (@I \ud83d\udc9b Us! \ud83c\udf3b) 1647258178
It\u2019s one of the most uncomfortable things I\u2019ve seen in recent memoryhttps://twitter.com/phil_lewis_/status/1503206213579853826?s=21\u00a0\u2026— A Nightmare John Elm Street (@A Nightmare John Elm Street) 1647235402
Can we white women ever NOT make it about our "oppression".\n\nWe're the second least oppressed demographic, but second most participatory in oppressing.\n\nVenus & Serena have it much tougher than her. They have to fight against both misogyny & racism, & a LOT from us white women.— \ud83d\udc9cTHEE Unrepentant Bruncher.\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89 (@\ud83d\udc9cTHEE Unrepentant Bruncher.\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89) 1647228858
Ok I needed that context so badly. Still why say this at all to Serena and Venus? Was there not another way to point out misogyny without going after your own gender? Not sure Serena and Venus asked to be her joke props?— Lorenna \u201cbipolarlioness\u201d Cleary (@Lorenna \u201cbipolarlioness\u201d Cleary) 1647235616
to just flagrantly dismiss every barrier the William's sisters have shattered and their near endless accomplishments is earth shatteringly ignorant. I still can't believe she said that. I'm rarely shocked here...I still cant believe she got a round of applause for that.— \u03a9Stuntman Mike\u03a9 (@\u03a9Stuntman Mike\u03a9) 1647237152
Why are women always trying to downplay the worth and hard work of Black women?pic.twitter.com/MB5kmavHpq— Thee Rosetta Cummings\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc1d (@Thee Rosetta Cummings\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc1d) 1647227992
One Twitter user noted the racial bias Serena Williams was subjected to after the New York Times misrepresented her as Venus in a recent article.
Is Jane Campion aware what Venus & Serena had to deal with in the whitest of sports? What an insulting comparison. She must have not watched @KingRichardFilm \n\n@serenawilliams was right when she recently wrote, "No matter how far we come,\u00a0we get reminded that it's not enough.\u201d— Noma Faingold (@Noma Faingold) 1647228693
Yep, that expression SAID IT ALL!!! Champion really thought that she was doing something funny there...no one laughed.— Clementine Bray - Pine State Log (@Clementine Bray - Pine State Log) 1647239004
That was gross, I get her point, only we are never going to fix things if we can\u2019t stop pitting marginalized groups against each other.— \ud83d\ude37 Vaxed & Boosted, MS APRN \ud83d\uddfd (@\ud83d\ude37 Vaxed & Boosted, MS APRN \ud83d\uddfd) 1647236153
Typical. Let me celebrate myself, while also stepping on Black women so I feel even HIGHER...pic.twitter.com/1Y46kkUejJ— Chuck Moulton (@Chuck Moulton) 1647264715
In response to the backlash over her Critic's Choice acceptance speech, Campion issued a formal apology in an official statement to Variety.
She wrote:
"I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have achieved."
"I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes."
"The fact is the Williams sisters have, actually, squared off against men on the court (and off), and they have both raised the bar and opened doors for what is possible for women in this world."
"The last thing I would ever want to do is minimize remarkable women. I love Serena and Venus."
"Their accomplishments are titanic and inspiring. Serena and Venus, I apologize and completely celebrate you."
Jane Campion apologizes to Venus and Serena Williams: "I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes...The last thing I would ever want to do is minimize remarkable women."https://variety.com/2022/film/news/jane-campion-apologizes-venus-serena-comment-1235204335/\u00a0\u2026— Variety (@Variety) 1647280713
Campion's remark at the awards ceremony was a jarring pivot after responding to Sam Elliott's criticism of her movie the day before.
Elliott–who is known for his work in American westerns early in his career and has recently starred in the Yellowstone prequel, 1883, on Paramount+–called Campion's movie a "piece of sh*t" in an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast earlier this month.
He slammed Campion's decision to film production in New Zealand instead of in Montana, where the story takes place, and also complained about the movie's “allusions of homosexuality"–which is the whole point of the film.
On Saturday, in response, Campion defended her decision for the film's shooting location, saying the "West is a mythic space and there's a lot of room on the range."
She added that Elliott was“being a little bit of a B-I-T-C-H" and said, "I think it’s a little bit sexist."