Kristen Stewart blasts Hollywood over decline in female directors

Kristen Stewart isn’t holding back when it comes to calling out Hollywood’s backslide on gender equality.

Speaking at a women’s luncheon in Los Angeles hosted by the management of Oscars, the Twilight star said she was “so angry” that progress for female filmmakers has stalled in recent years, BBC reports.

“The backsliding from a brief moment of progress is statistically devastating,” Stewart said, adding, “Such a pitiful number of films from the past year have been made by women.”

The actress also spoke about the frustration many feel but are told to suppress. “We can discuss wage gaps and taxes on tampons and measure inequality in lots of quantifiable ways,” she said.

“But the violence of silencing. It’s like we’re not even supposed to be angry. But I can eat this podium with a fork and *** knife. I’m so angry,” she went on to say.

The Celluloid Ceiling, an annual study tracking women behind the camera, found that only 11 of the top 100 grossing films of 2024 were directed by women down from 16 in 2020, when the post-MeToo movement briefly boosted female representation.