What a difference a Golden Globes appearance makes. President-elect Donald Trump lashed Meryl Streep as “over-rated” after she sharply criticized his “bullying” as she accepted an award Sunday. But as recently as 2015 he named her as one of his favorite actresses.
Asked in a Hollywood Reporter interview in August 2015 if there were any actresses he “loved,” Trump named Julia Roberts and Streep. “Meryl Streep is excellent; she’s a fine person, too,” Trump said.
That regard dissolved into a vicious Twitter tirade against the star after Streep took him to task for his anti-immigrant stance and his apparent mocking of a disabled New York Times reporter at a campaign rally. He blasted Streep as a “Hillary flunky” and “one of the most over-rated actresses of her time.” Trump also insisted he didn’t mock the reporter (”would never do that,” he tweeted), but only showed the journalist “groveling.”
Streep was honored at the 2017 Golden Globes with a Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. She has been nominated over her career for 19 Academy Awards, more than any other actress, winning three. Streep has also won two British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards and eight competitive Golden Globes honors, among several other honors.
Trump also slammed hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” as “overrated” in November after cast members made a case to audience member Vice President-elect Mike Pence for protecting American diversity. The musical won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, the second-most ever won by a single play in the history of American theater.
CORRECTION: This article previously misstated that Pence was booed by the “Hamilton” cast; he was booed by members of the audience.