While being honored at Variety's Power of Women event this week, Natalie Portman gave a rousing speech about the pervasive power imbalance in Hollywood, calling out accused sexual predators Brett Ratner and Harvey Weinstein. She also spoke about the industry wide pay disparity, pointing out that "only 11% of the top 250 films last year were directed by women."
"Many men are behaving like we live in a zero-sum game. That if women get the respect, access and value we deserve, they will lose," Portman said. "But we know the message of the mammaries: The more milk you give, the more milk you make. The more love you give, the more love you have. And the same can be said of fire. When you light someone else's torch with your own, you don't lose your fire, you just make more light and more heat."
"Light a woman's torch," Portman added. "The light will multiply and the heat will intensify for all of us."
Portman also laid out a step-by-step guide to helping women navigating the industry, emphasizing the importance of spilling the tea. "Gossip well. Stop the rhetoric that a woman is crazy or difficult. If a man says to you that a woman is crazy or difficult, ask him: what bad thing did you do to her?"
Cooper Koch and twin bro spark controversy with eye-popping 'White Lotus' parody