Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Lawrence disappointed the Internet last week when she was filmed scolding a reporter at last week’s Golden Globes for using his phone while conducting an interview with her – but fellow actress Anne Hathaway has jumped to Lawrence’s defense, saying her seemingly blunt comments were “taken out of context.”
In a post to her Facebook page on Friday morning, self-described “J-Law fan” Hathaway said that the Internet should chill out over the incident, because it was clear the actress was only “dryly joking” when she chastised the reporter.
“It’s become pretty clear that the Jennifer Lawrence ‘scolding’ was taken out of context and that she was dryly joking with a journalist who was indeed using his phone to take photos of her,” Hathaway wrote, echoing the claims of another journalist who said that the reporter in question was using his phone to take videos and photos of the star while speaking with her.
Lawrence had just picked up the Best Actress honor at Sunday night’s Golden Globe awards and was was conducting a post-win press conference when the reporter, speaking with a heavy foreign accent, attempted to ask her a question.
“You can’t live your whole life behind your phone, bro,” Lawrence cut the reporter off mid-sentence. “You just — you can’t do that. You’ve gotta live in the now.”
After apologizing, the reporter attempted to re-ask his question: “How do you see yourself for the Oscar night, and how was working – ”
“We’re at the Golden Globes,” Lawrence interjected again. “If you put your phone down, you’d know that.”
The reporter appeared to be asking Lawrence how she felt her Golden Globe win would impact her chances at next months’ Academy Awards, but he never got the question out. The exchange was fiercely debated online, with many saying the actress had publicly humiliated a foreign reporter. Others said Lawrence was simply having a bit of fun.
“Let’s not continue the sad but common practice of building people — especially women — up just to viciously tear them down when we perceive them to have misstepped,” Hathaway added in her Facebook post. “Jennifer is a beautiful, talented, wildly successful, popular, FOUR TIME OSCAR NOMINATED young woman. Please let us not punish her for these things.”
Lawrence earned a Best Actress nomination on Thursday for her leading role in the David O. Russell-directed Joy.