On Jan. 7, 2018, the @UPROXX entertainment blog tweeted a video on Twitter from the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards, which had taken place that same day. The video featured Oscar-winning actor Natalie Portman making a point of mentioning that the candidates up for best director were "all male nominees."
The evening was highlighted by the fact that so many women had chosen to wear black dresses to signify what actor Meryl Streep described as showing solidarity with others trying to right the power imbalance that leads to sexual abuse, according to The Associated Press. After all, at the time, the #MeToo movement was in full swing and the "downfall" of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and others had just begun.
Natalie Portman: 'And here are the all male nominees' ???#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/f2MyPkF8x6
— UPROXX (@UPROXX) January 8, 2018
Six years later, on Jan. 4, 2024, a user on X named @notgwendalupe shared the exact same video upload from @UPROXX's 2018 tweet with the caption, "6 years ago, Natalie Portman caused chaos at the Golden Globes by pointing out they only nominated male directors." That post was liked well over 50,000 times.
Just over two hours later, another user on X named @ale_alejandroid reposted the post from @notgwendalupe with the caption, "Since this, Natalie Portman has made 8 movies and not a single one with a female director." The post received more than 150,000 likes – a staggering amount of engagement for a post on the platform.
Since this, Natalie Portman has made 8 movies and not a single one with a female director. https://t.co/4MvYegwA1f
— ale alejandro (@ale_alejandroid) January 4, 2024
According to data on IMDb.com, RottenTomatoes.com and TheMovieDb.org, this claim was true. Between 2018 and early January 2024, all of the feature films that Portman had acted in were directed by men.
Seven of the eight films apparently noted by the user who made the post on X included "Annihilation" (Alex Garland, 2018), "Vox Lux" (Brady Corbet, 2018), "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan" (Xavier Dolan, 2018), "Avengers: Endgame" (Anthony and Joe Russo, 2019), "Lucy in the Sky" (Noah Hawley, 2019), "Thor: Love and Thunder" (Taika Waititi, 2022) and "May December" (Todd Haynes, 2023). The eighth film, an animated movie titled "Foxy Trotter" (Chris Prynoski), had not yet been released.
Previously, Portman starred in 2016's "Planetarium," which was helmed by female director Rebecca Zlotowski. Portman also starred in and directed her 2015 film, "A Tale of Love and Darkness."
As for projects fit for the small screen, Portman is starring in the upcoming "Lady in the Lake." The limited TV series for Apple TV+ is being directed by Alma Har'el, who is a woman.