Blake Lively on Laurent Lafitte's Rape Joke About Woody Allen
Hollywood actress Blake Lively was quick to share her opinion on Laurent Lafitte's controversial opening remarks for the Cannes Film Festival.
The master of ceremonies for the Cannes Film Festival Laurent Lafitte received some backlash when he used Woody Allen for one of his jokes. During the opening of "Cafe Society," he told Allen, "It's very nice that you've been shooting so many movies in Europe, even if you are not being convicted for rape in the U.S."
His comment shocked many of the audience members, deeming it an inappropriate joke even though he was referred to the scandals around Roman Polanski. Blake Lively was one of the disappointed viewers who experienced the joke. With that, she spoke to Variety about her sentiments regarding Lafitte's comment.
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She said, "I think that was a hard thing swallow in 30 seconds. Film festivals are such a beautiful, respectful festivals of film and artists and to have that, it felt like it wouldn't have happened if it was in the 1940s. I can't imagine Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby going out and doing that. It was more disappointing for the artists in the room that someone was going up there making jokes about something that wasn't funny."
She also stated that it was not just about the joke surrounding Allen, but also Lafitte's comments references to homophobia and Hitler.
However, Lafitte also spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about his jokes. He explained that he did not mean any harm with it. He explained that he was not aware of the rape allegations concerning Allen before writing the joke.
He said, "When I wrote this joke, it was more a joke about Europe and why one of the greatest American directors spent years in Europe, [while Allen] didn't have to because he wasn't accused of rape in his own country, compared to Roman Polanski. It was [meant] as a joke about American puritanism and the fact that it is surprising that an American director wants to do so many movies in Europe. I didn't know about the other stuff."
