The Shady Side Of Emma Stone
Emma Stone has worked her way into that exclusive group of Hollywood actors who very few appear to have a bad word about. Yes, there were a few social media users upset that she won the 2024 best actress Oscar category over "Killers of the Flower Moon" lead Lily Gladstone, but their disdain was aimed more toward the Academy than the Arizona-born actor herself.
The "Poor Things" star's career has largely been free of any major scandal, too. There haven't been any run-ins with the law, ongoing celebrity feuds, or soap opera-esque love triangles, for example. In fact, she even still appears to be amicable with most of her showbiz ex-boyfriends.
So surely there's nothing Stone has done that could be classed as shady, right? Well, she isn't totally averse to the odd snarky putdown, for one thing. Then, there's the fact she was deemed to have taken a role from a person of color. And more recently, she has been accused of both insulting the host and snubbing a fellow winner at the film industry's biggest night of the year. Here's a look at how the universally loved actor has occasionally been called into question.
Emma Stone shaded the Academy
Emma Stone might be something of an Oscar darling having already won two best actress statues by the age of 35. But the highly talented thespian certainly isn't averse to throwing some shade in their direction.
At the 2018 ceremony, just one year after winning her first Oscar for "La La Land," Stone was asked to present the category of best director. And whether her words were self-penned or, more than likely, given to her by a team of joke writers, she no doubt agreed with the sentiment.
"It is the vision of the director that takes an ordinary movie and turns it into a work of art," Stone began (via People) as Christopher Nolan ("Dunkirk"), Jordan Peele ("Get Out"), Paul Thomas Anderson ("Phantom Threat"), Greta Gerwig ("Lady Bird"), and eventual winner Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water") waited with bated breath. Referring to the notable gender imbalance within the Academy's nominations, the star then added, "These four men and Greta Gerwig created their own masterpieces this year."
When Stone snubbed Michelle Yeoh on the Oscars stage
2024 appears to be the year of award winners snubbing the individual handing out their award. First, Taylor Swift completely ignored legendary diva Celine Dion while accepting album of the year at the 2024 Grammys. Then, both Robert Downey Jr. and Emma Stone were accused of being rude to the returning winners from "Everything Everywhere All At Once" when they picked up best supporting actor and best actress respectively at the 2024 Academy Awards.
While "Oppenheimer" star Downey Jr. looked to have given Ke Huy Quan the cold shoulder, Stone appeared to do the same with Michelle Yeoh, who presented her the golden trophy. The "Poor Things" star did at least thank her predecessors during her speech, but she only offered hugs to Jennifer Lawrence and Sally Field, both of whom were also on stage to honor the best actress nominees.
Some viewers of the ceremony tweeted that both offending parties were guilty of unconscious discrimination. But PR professional Beth Brooker told Today that Stone and Downey Jr. should be cut some slack: "While these people accepting awards are celebrities, they are also humans, and we should give them some grace when they don't 'perform' how we expect them to." Stone herself has been open about her anxiety, which has affected her life off-camera.
She appeared to insult Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel
The 2024 Academy Awards proved to be quite an eventful occasion for Emma Stone. Not only did she win her second best actress award and subsequently get accused of snubbing Michelle Yeoh while accepting it, but she also made headlines with her reaction to a joke from the ceremony's host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
The drama began when the movie Stone won for, "Poor Things," was being presented for the best picture category. Following footage from Yorgos Lanthimos's provocative film, Kimmel quipped (via Page Six), "Those were all the parts of 'Poor Things' we're allowed to show on TV."
But when the camera cut to Stone, it appeared as though she didn't appreciate the one-liner. In fact, many lip-readers posited that she described Kimmel as a "p***k" under her breath from her seat in the audience. Just moments earlier, the late-night talk show veteran had cracked a joke involving the same actor that had gone down much better. "Emma, you were so unbelievably great in 'Poor Things,'" he began (via Deadline). "Emma played an adult woman with a brain of a child, like the lady who gave the rebuttal to the State of the Union on Thursday night."
Did she disrespect Poor Things' behind-the-scenes team?
And the stories about Emma Stone's shadiness at the 2024 Academy Awards keep coming. You might have wondered why the camera never panned to its leading lady whenever "Poor Things" won a technical award: the fantastical drama picked up best production design, best makeup and hairstyling, and best costume design at the ceremony. Well, the truth appears to be that instead of sitting in the audience, she was living it up at the backstage bar.
In a live blog post for The New York Times, Nicole Sperling wrote, "Emma Stone in the lobby bar with Florence Pugh when a naked John Cena crosses the Oscar stage. Pugh turns around dramatically and says, 'Who is he streaking for, everyone is out here?' Then when 'Poor Things' wins for best costumes, Emma groans loudly, 'We are missing every one of these,' visibly upset when they thank her specifically and she's not in the auditorium to hear it."
Stone may have been "visibly upset," but some Oscar viewers believed she was still being disrespectful to those who had worked behind the scenes to make "Poor Things" such an awards favorite. "I know it's hard to sit and pay attention," one viewer tweeted. "Truly, I take medicine to try and pay attention. But maybe could ya? Especially for the awards your film is favorited to win."
Stone was accused of whitewashing
Emma Stone no doubt regretted taking on the role of Allison Ng in Cameron Crowe's 2015 film, "Aloha." Not only did the film bomb with audiences and critics alike, her casting was also viewed as a blatant case of whitewashing.
Stone played a character of mixed Asian and Hawaiian descent in the romantic comedy despite having no such heritage in real life, and she was criticized for taking a role that should have gone to an actor who did. To her credit, the two-time Academy Award winner did acknowledge the controversy while promoting another project she may have since regretted signing up for, too; Woody Allen's "Irrational Man."
"I've become the butt of many jokes," Stone told news.com.au (via The Guardian) in 2015. "I've learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It's ignited a conversation that's very important." She also publicly apologized at the Golden Globes several years later when co-host Sandra Oh joked (via Variety) that "Crazy Rich Asians" was "the first studio film with an Asian American lead since 'Ghost in the Shell' and 'Aloha.'" Stone shouted from the audience, "I'm sorry!"
She put Andrew Garfield on the spot
Emma Stone had no qualms about making her then-boyfriend, Andrew Garfield, squirm in 2014 when the pair hit the promotional trail for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." And a seemingly innocuous comment about crafting was the catalyst.
During an international Q&A, Garfield revealed that his character Peter Parker made his own costume after taking some sewing classes, adding (via Vanity Fair), "It's kind of a feminine thing to do, but he really kind of made a very masculine costume out of a very feminine ..." But before he could finish his sentence, the Brit was challenged by his on-screen and off-screen love interest.
"It's feminine how?" remarked Stone, appearing to insinuate that Garfield had engaged in some casual sexism. "It's amazing how you took that as an insult," he responded before his girlfriend fired back, "I'm not taking it as an insult. I'm asking how it is feminine." Put firmly on the spot, Garfield then tried to defend himself, arguing, "I would say that femininity is about more delicacy," before insisting that his initial comment was complimentary. No doubt the car journey afterward was an awkward one.
Stone rolled her eyes at a BBC interviewer
Emma Stone won the award for leading actress for her performance as Hollywood ingenue Amelia "Mia" Dolan in "La La Land" at the 2017 BAFTA Awards. But for many viewers who watched the BBC's coverage of the ceremony, the actor's shadiness on the red carpet may have overshadowed the victory.
While making her way into London's Royal Albert Hall, Stone was asked by TV presenter Zoe Ball if she had prepared an acceptance speech. The star immediately rolled her eyes before responding (via The Standard), "Oh God, we'll see. You know, I'm just going to enjoy the show. That's what I'm going to do."
Stone seemed equally curt when asked about her starring role in the live-action spinoff of "101 Dalmatians." "I'll just say the one word to you — Cruella," an enthusiastic Ball remarked. "What about her?" came the slightly stony-faced reply. After being pushed a little further, the Arizona native wrapped up the incredibly awkward interview with, "We will see, it's very early so we'll see how it all pans out."