Natalie Portman's Tribute to All the Snubbed Female Directors on Her 2020 Oscars Gown Is a Must-See

Natalie Portman is making a statement.

The Oscar-winning actress hit the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, Feb. 9, in a stunning black custom Dior gown, but it was her matching cape that we must discuss. Why? Because she had the last names of eight of the female directors famously snubbed this year in the Best Director category stitched down it.

“I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way,” she told Los Angeles Times journalist Amy Kaufman in a Twitter video posted from the red carpet.

So who got the sartorial shout out from Portman? That would be Hustlers‘ Lorene Scafaria, The Farewell‘s Lulu Wang, Little Women‘s Greta Gerwig, Atlantics‘ Mati Diop, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood‘s Marielle Heller, Queen & Slim‘s Melina Matsoukas, Honey Boy‘s Alma Har’el, and Portriat of a Lady on Fire‘s Céline Sciamma.

It’s not the first time, of course, that Portman has stood up for female directors in the face of their snubs in directing categories. When she stood alongside Ron Howard to present the Best Director category at the 2018 Golden Globes, she famously said, without a smile, “And here are the all-male nominees.” (Sadly, Gerwig was snubbed that year at that ceremony, as well.)

When she stopped by for a brief chat with E! News’ Ryan Seacrest, she didn’t speak about her dress, but she did break down what it felt like when she won Best Actress for Black Swan back in 2010. “It was incredible,” she reminisced. “I was so nervous and it was such an incredible culminations of all this work and creativity and collaboration and friendship that we had built over making something together.”