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Jane Campionis walking back a “thoughtless” comment.
ThePower of the Dogdirector, 67, accepted the Critics Choice Award for best director on Sunday, joking in her speech about how she recently picked up tennis and invited sistersVenus WilliamsandSerena Williamsto give her lessons sometime.
The athletes attended the awards show to support their movieKing Richard, which is about their early life breaking into the world of professional tennis.
Elsewhere in her speech, Campion pointed out how she has been one of few female directors receiving acclaim in a male-dominated line of work, making a joke about the Williams sisters not having to compete with men on the court like her.
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“Serena and Venus, you are such marvels. However, you do not play against the guys like I have to,” she said with a laugh. In the audience, Serena, 40, laughed while clapping as Campion held up her trophy.
“I made a thoughtless comment equating what I do in the film world with all thatSerena Williamsand Venus Williams have achieved. I did not intend to devalue these two legendary Black women and world-class athletes,” she said. “The fact is the Williams sisters have, actually, squared off against men on the court (and off), and they have both raised the bar and opened doors for what is possible for women in this world.”
“The last thing I would ever want to do is minimize remarkable women. I love Serena and Venus,” continued Campion. “Their accomplishments are titanic and inspiring. Serena and Venus, I apologize and completely celebrate you.”
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Campion is thefirst woman to have been nominatedfor Best Director atthe Oscarsmore than once. She earned a nod for 1993’sThe Piano, and she won Best Original Screenplay that year.
In arecentVanity Fairprofile, Campion reflected on her movies in the 1990s and early 2000s being viewed unfairly from a male lens at the time: “Things were pretty tough at that time for women [in the industry]. We had a little flare-up in the ’70s and ’80s when things were a bit more out there, and then it was like, ‘Well, you had your go, now no one wants to hear from you.’ "
RELATED VIDEO:Serena Williamsand Daughter Olympia Match in Sparkly Red Carpet Looks forKing RichardPremiere
Serena, in aNovember BBC Radio 5 interview, spoke about dealing with racism throughout her career and how she hopes things will change for future young athletes.
“Obviously we live in an imperfect world and there has been, maybe, some changes but there’s a ton of steps that still need to be made. Not only in tennis but … in every sport ever,” she said. “So I think it’s important just to keep going and do the best that you can.”
In the same interview, Venus, 41, added, “It’s also important for people to continue to break barriers. The best part is if you’re good enough and if you’re great enough then you open the way for other people. I think the generations behind us are able to just play tennis and hopefully not have to focus so much on the color of their skin.”
source: people.com
