Jennifer Lawrence explains 'inside joke' with Joanna Lumley that infuriated Bafta viewers
The actress says she invited Joanna Lumley to "punch her in the face" after being accused of offending her at the awards ceremony
A lot of people got very offended by a comment made by Jennifer Lawrence to Joanna Lumley at the Baftas on Sunday.
Lawrence was introduced on stage by awards host Lumley, who called her "the hottest actress on the planet… the ravishing Jennifer Lawrence", to which the actress responded: "That was a bit much, but thank you Joanna.”
Viewers were outraged by the exchange, labelling the actress "rude".
- Red Sparrow director defends Jennifer Lawrence against “ridiculous” backlash to Joanna Lumley Bafta comments
- Jennifer Lawrence goes full-on femme fatale in the new Red Sparrow trailer
Lawrence has since explained that it was an “inside joke” and that she’d been telling Lumley, in jest, to “go on and on and on about me” before she went on stage.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Lawrence said that following the social media backlash she emailed Lumley to say: “I am so, so sorry. If you want to come over to my hotel before Tuesday and just punch me in the face, please.”
Lawrence said that Lumley responded saying she had “no idea” what she was talking about as the Bafta host “doesn’t go on the internet”.
The Red Sparrow actress added: “Boy did that go wrong! I was at the Baftas for 15 minutes and I offended England.”
Red Sparrow director Francis Lawrence had earlier told RadioTimes.com that the reaction to Lawrence's comment was "ridiculous".
"I was there backstage and watching and I didn’t even catch that thing so somehow – how people found that moment to be insulting?” he said.
