Jennifer Lawrence made the world fall in love with her say-anything attitude, but it's that very attitude that has landed her in hot water.
Vulture reports that while at the Vanity Fair Cannes Film Festival party on May 17, the 23-year-old actress made an off-the-cuff rape joke and, predictably, people are not happy about it. Upon spotting "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón in the crowd, Lawrence allegedly cried out, "I broke out my rape scream for you!" as she grabbed his shoulders and screamed, "Ahhhhh!!!" into his face, like a "crazed fan, or a woman in distress."
"Lawrence is painted as the goofy girl next door that everyone wants to be best friends with, but would you really want to befriend someone that describes excitement as a 'rape scream?'" wrote Bustle's Maitri Mehta. "It might seem like a joke to Lawrence, but rape is never an acceptable topic to joke about -- especially for a star in a young adult franchise that so many young girls look up to."
Meanwhile, Crushable's Alexis Rhiannon concedes that Lawrence probably didn't intend for anyone to hear her remark except for Cuarón, but that doesn't excuse it. "By her blasé use of the terminology, it seems likely that she’s been lucky enough never to be in a situation necessitating that type of scream, or else I hope she wouldn’t throw it around so casually," she wrote. "I’m not suggesting that Jennifer intended to be flippant about rape or assault, just that she was."
It's not the first time the actress' comments have resulted in backlash. Her constant soundbites about her love of food and distaste for exercise has led some to claim that Lawrence "body shames" more than one might realize. She has also been accused of trivializing transgender issues. In 2012, she told Ellen DeGeneres that her female cat acts so masculine that she started calling the cat "Chaz Bono." Critics were similarly displeased that time she told Rolling Stone she was "so dykey."
Lawrence was also overheard at the same Vanity Fair party loudly proclaiming, "I want to meet Bieber!" who was also in attendance. So there's that, too.
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