Priyanka Chopra may be a relatively new face in the American market, and younger Americans may know her more as "Mrs. Nick Jonas" than anything else. But Chopra has been a worldwide star for just as long as Jonas and isn't afraid to remind people.
Recently, Australian reporter Peter Ford questioned what qualified Chopra to announce the Oscar Nominations. He quickly got his answer - and told to do better... and that was beforeChopra herself spoke up.
The reporter's initial tweet about Chopra and Jonas as presenters is below. Note Mr. Ford's complaint is they have not contributed to "the movies" and makes no mention of "Hollywood."
Pin that mentally. It'll be important later.
The Aussie reporter questioned whether Chopra or Jonas had contributed enough "to the movies" to warrant being asked to present the nominations. While Nick's contribution to cinema is admittedly less than his contribution to music, Chopra is a very different story.
Priyanka Chopra is credited in over 70 films.
She is arguably one of the most famous actresses world-wide, considered a Bollywood legend (India has the third largest film market in the world, by the way) and that's to say nothing of her work in media other than film or behind the camera.
Also her film White Tiger is nominated for an Oscar this year, so her work is literally on the list she was tasked with reading from.
Ford got schooled in his own comments section pretty quickly.
@mrpford @mrpford first time i notice you coz you rised a question about #PriyankaChopra She is Miss World 2000, 2… https://t.co/kI8xXNueup— Mit Kadiya (@Mit Kadiya) 1615951474.0
@mrpford Watch “Barfi”. Then watch the other 78 motion pictures she’s done. Then be reminded her film “White Tiger”… https://t.co/wmHhzNAWBO— Rick Segall (@Rick Segall) 1615922295.0
But Ford doubled down on his insistence Chopra was unqualified.
@JstAnotherDevil I doubt it. But this isn’t about Bollywood. Her Hollywood credentials are minimal. His are zero.— Peter Ford (@Peter Ford) 1615943619.0
@RickSegall I agree her credits are very extensive and I was not fully aware of that. The contribution to Hollywood… https://t.co/6iujGea2r6— Peter Ford (@Peter Ford) 1615931261.0
And that's when Priyanka Chopra decided to speak up for herself or more accurately, scroll for herself. Rather than list her credits, she decided to lean into the old addage that a picture was worth a thousand words and hit him with a scrolling video.
For his adept consideration...
Amazingly (or unsurprisingly, depending on how you look at it) Ford tripled-down on insisting world-famous, world-renown and literally-nominated-at-the-Oscars-this-year actress Priyanka Chopra was somehow unqualified to (*checks notes*) read a list from a teleprompter.
As people educated him in the comments of both his and Priyanka's tweets, the journalist brushed aside their facts, accused people of being racist towards him and continued to insist only Hollywood mattered.
And then he responded to Priyanka directly.
@priyankachopra Thank you. They are certainly more considerable than I realised and I accept your guidance. However… https://t.co/CYnAGLsqSp— Peter Ford (@Peter Ford) 1615925630.0
So let's recap:
An Australian reporter insisted Piyanka Chopra, an actress whose work was nominated in this year's Oscars, was not qualified to read the nominations for this year's Oscars.
The basis for his insistence is she had not done enough work in Hollywood, the American film market. The fact she has done decades of work on film around the world is irrelevant to him.
The Oscars are a world film market awards show, Chopra has multiple Hollywood credits ... and also she is nominated for an Oscar this year.
After being educated on these points, by fans Ford doubled down.
After Priyanka Chopra herself spoke up, Ford tripled-down the Oscar-Nominated actress was not qualified to read the Oscar noms, going so far as to tell Chopra directly none of the facts changed his mind.
As far as Twitter is concerned, all Ford did was embarrass himself and his profession.
@mrpford Well no disrespect to you sir but I'm not sure if your contribution to journalism qualifies you to be comm… https://t.co/sGeDec0SkP— Priyanka Chopra Squad (@Priyanka Chopra Squad) 1615893244.0
@priyankachopra @mrpford How to school the 'uncle' who doesn't know how to use Google... https://t.co/fXiBMUMr78— Yasangi Randeni 🌏 (@Yasangi Randeni 🌏) 1616035075.0
@Shaeraebae @priyankachopra @mrpford If he knows who they are then mr expert should know that they qualify for atle… https://t.co/aw9zraz8Ch— Aatmanirbhar Balak (@Aatmanirbhar Balak) 1615980366.0
@mrpford I dont blame you.... you live in ur tiny part of the world and expect to know what's happening all over...… https://t.co/6B5L4Pgtkq— Umm Marzouq & Mahfuz (@Umm Marzouq & Mahfuz) 1615925824.0
@priyankachopra @mrpford Not only does this diminish a woman’s career but also disregards the importance of World C… https://t.co/wYE9oOGwY9— Ash (@Ash) 1615925991.0
@mrpford @sapnabhavnani @priyankachopra are you implying that you are suffering reverse racism? as you are stupid,… https://t.co/89s3k1c29c— Suy ミ☆ (@Suy ミ☆) 1615950246.0
@mrpford We just got rid of a bully named Piers Morgan, don't be a replacement. Do better. Oscars opened up it's… https://t.co/ybLWZYCYTh— Souradeep Chatterjee🦠🔬 (@Souradeep Chatterjee🦠🔬) 1615950791.0
@priyankachopra @mrpford Who’s this guy from down under claiming to be “most well known entertainment reporter from… https://t.co/90VmyO2Cvw— 🇺🇸🇮🇳🥂 (@🇺🇸🇮🇳🥂) 1615959107.0
Ford set his account to private temporarily in an attempt to avoid people's responses. We don't know if Chopra will say anything further, though we doubt it.
She is busy enjoying a storied career both in and out of Hollywood, and if we're honest, her scroll was a bit of a mic drop moment.