Actress Rebel Wilson drew rave reviews (and some SJW grumblings) by poking fun at the Oscars diversity controversy and awards shows’ seeming obsession with transgender characters during her presenter’s speech at the BAFTA Awards Sunday night.
“It’s so great to be here at this really serious event,” the How to Be Single star deadpanned while presenting the evening’s Best Supporting Actor award.
“I’ve never been invited to the Oscars, because as you know they are racists,” Wilson continued. “But the BAFTAs have diverse members. And that’s what we all want to see in life, isn’t it: diverse members.”
“One day I hope to return here to win a BAFTA myself; I have already been practicing my transgendered face,” she added.
Before announcing the winner (Mark Rylance would go on to win for his role in Bridge of Spies), Wilson apologized for being distracted by another one of the nominees: “Sorry, Idris Elba, you’re making me a bit nervous,” she blushed. “I’m just sociologically programmed to want chocolate on Valentine’s Day.”
Wilson’s speech drew a big response on social media, with most users praising her for perfectly delivering funny, non-politically correct jokes:
#bafta2016 Oh Rebel Wilson. Thank you for your outrageousness. Just what was needed!
— Lucy Briers (@lucyjbriers) February 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/Koudie17/status/699294143621693440
Best part about the #Baftas2016 had to be @RebelWilson presenting best supporting actor. She was awesome 😄🎬
— Jennifer Gayle (@Jen_pah) February 15, 2016
But some, predictably, took offense at the joke about “transgendered face.”
Do you know that more than half of transpeople will attempt suicide at least once in their life, @RebelWilson? Did you know that?
— #ListenToTheAncestors (@NolanHack) February 14, 2016
Let's try to have an awards ceremony where nobody uses trans people as a cheap joke, shall we? #RebelWilson #RickyGervais
— Beckett Frith (@BJFrith) February 15, 2016
Wilson wasn’t the only one to cause a stir at the BAFTAs on Sunday night; the show’s host, Stephen Fry, abruptly quit Twitter after the ceremony after one of his jokes led thousands of viewers to hound him on social media.
After costume designer Jenny Beavan picked up the award for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, Fry took the stage and quipped: “Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady.”
Beavan had gone with a dressed-down look involving a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt.
While Fry and Beavan are reportedly close friends, the host later wrote on his website that he had left Twitter because the social media service had become “a stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous, who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended.”
See the full list of BAFTA Award winners here.
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