‘It was an inside joke’: Jennifer Lawrence shuts down Joanna Lumley BAFTAs controversy

Lawrence addressed the backlash in an interview on Magic radio
Safeeyah Kazi19 February 2018
The Weekender

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Jennifer Lawrence has addressed the controversy over her comments towards Joanna Lumley at the BAFTAs, saying “it was an inside joke”.

Responding to criticism that she rejected compliments from Lumley at Sunday night’s BAFTAs, The Hunger Games actress said she wanted to 'clear up' confusion.

The 27-year-old told Magic FM's Ronan Keating: ““It was an inside joke. She went on and said all these really nice things about me and then when I got up to the podium, I was like ‘that was a bit much’ after I just spent all backstage telling her how to be really nice to me.

“Everybody thought that I was being rude. But to be fair, I couldn’t have just walked out after she was like, ‘biggest movie star in the world!!’

“And I’d just walked out and gone ‘thank you Joanna’. It would have been like, ‘so you agree? You think you’re really pretty’.”

While introducing Lawrence to the stage at the ceremony to present Outstanding British Film, Lumley said: “Right let’s start giving out some of those beautiful BAFTAs shall we?

BAFTA Awards 2018 Arrivals - In pictures

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“And we start with the award for Outstanding British Film and who better to kick the whole evening off than the hottest actress on the planet. Soon to be seen in Red Sparrow, it’s the ravishing Jennifer Lawrence.”

Lawrence replied: “Hi, that was a bit much but thank you, Joanna.”

Viewers slated Lawrence's “ungrateful” response, with one tweeting: “Jennifer Lawrence was unnecessarily rude then wasn’t she? #EEBAFTAs didn’t think there was any need for that reply to Joanna Lumley.”

Another wrote: “Jennifer Lawrence rude to Joanna Lumley tonight and also talked all the way through that first BAFTA award winning speech.”

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