Back at the 2014 Oscars, Julie Delpy caused a minor kerfuffle. I didn’t remember exactly what it was about, so I had to go back to my two-year-old post about it – go here to read. The background: Delpy was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater for the final film in their unconventional trilogy, Before Midnight (the first two films were Before Sunrise and Before Sunset). It was Delpy’s second Oscar nomination, and I guess she was tired of the whole Oscar-campaign process. Or something. Just before the 2014 Oscars, she gave an interview in which she said:

“We have the Golden Globes. If you could see it, you wouldn’t believe that there’s anything good about it. The same goes for the Oscars. It’s 90 percent white men over 70 who need money because they haven’t done anything in a long time. You just need to give them two or three presents and they’re in your pocket. It doesn’t mean anything to me, so I don’t really care if there are women in the selection process.”

It’s fascinating to re-read her comments now, two years later, in the middle of a year-long conversation about gender equality and racial diversity in Hollywood, and the out-of-touch Academy. While I still think Delpy’s original comment was couched in bitterness, there is a vein of something interesting there, right?

Well, Delpy was at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday where she was asked about the Academy and the larger conversations happening over the past year. This is what she said:

“Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media. It’s funny — women can’t talk. I sometimes wish I were African American because people don’t bash them afterward. It’s the hardest to be a woman. Feminists is something people hate above all. Nothing worse than being a woman in this business. I really believe that.”

[From The Wrap]

Once again, there’s a sting of bitterness that takes away from whatever valid point she might have been trying to make. Personally, I don’t think it’s harder to be a woman in Hollywood rather than an African-American, but that’s probably because I believe IT IS NOT A COMPETITION. No one gets a prize for being the most aggrieved and victimized person in Los Angeles. You can be a feminist AND want racial diversity to be represented in films. Intersectional feminism is a thing and more people should try it. As for this: “I sometimes wish I were African American because people don’t bash them afterward.” That’s a textbook example of non-intersectional white feminism. Check your privilege, Delpy.

(PS… How has #OscarsSoWhite turned into #Sh-tWhitePeopleSay?)

Update: Thanks to BlueSky for this, Delpy has already apologized. Here’s her apology:

“I’m very sorry for how I expressed myself. It was never meant to diminish the injustice done to African American artists or to any other people that struggle for equal opportunities and rights, on the contrary. All I was trying to do is to address the issues of inequality of opportunity in the industry for women as well (as I am a woman). I never intended to underestimate anyone else’s struggle! We should stay alert and united and support each other to change this unfair reality and don’t let anyone sabotage our common efforts by distorting the truth. Again I’m so sorry for this unfortunate misunderstanding, people who know me, know very well that I can’t stand inequality and injustice of any kind.”

[Via MSN]

Once again with the “misunderstanding” or “misinterpretation” excuse. And she shouldn’t have apologized for how she “expressed” herself, she should have apologized for what she said full-stop.

Photos courtesy of WENN.