- - Kristen Stewart Calls Out ‘Devastating’ Lack of Progress in Hollywood After the Me Too Movement: ‘I'm So Angry’

Andrea MandellNovember 5, 2025 at 4:10 AM

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Kristen Stewart, wearing CHANEL, attends the Academy Women's Luncheon Presented by CHANEL at The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures on November 04, 2025 in Los Angeles, California -

Kristen Stewart delivered the keynote speech at the Academy and Chanel’s 2025 Women’s Luncheon in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 4

Stewart used her address to call out "the elephant in the room," namely, the lack of gender equality progress since the Me Too movement

Stewart will release her feature directorial debut Chronology of Water in December

Kristen Stewart is not holding back about an alarming lack of progress in Hollywood.

Delivering the keynote speech at the Academy and Chanel’s 2025 Women’s Luncheon in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Stewart, who will release her feature directorial debut Chronology of Water in December, swiftly confronted what she termed “the elephant in the room,” painting a stark picture of the barriers female filmmakers continue to face.

“In a post-Me Too moment, it seemed possible that stories made by and for women were finally getting their due, that we might be allowed or even encouraged to express ourselves and our shared experiences, all of our experiences without filter,” she said. Her audience included female filmmakers and stars such as Kate Hudson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Riley Keough, Felicity Jones, Tessa Thompson, Alicia Silverstone, Barbie Ferreira, Stewart's wife, screenwriter Dylan Meyer, and director Patty Jenkins.

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With her first major directorial effort completed, Stewart continued: “But I can now attest to the bare-knuckle brawling that it takes every single frame, when the content is too dark, too taboo, when the frankness with which it serves up observations about experiences routinely experienced by women frequently provoke disgust and rejection.”

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Dylan Meyer and Kristen Stewart attend the Academy Women's Luncheon Presented by Chanel at The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures on November 4, 2025.

Breaking for a moment of levity, Stewart, 35, acknowledged she was "in a severe state of PMS today,” to laughter from the audience. “But I relish being able to say that my nerves are close to the surface of my skin and it is a great day for that," she added.

In that spirit, the actress-turned-director pressed on, sharing her anger at the prevailing gender inequality that plagues Hollywood.

“So in my hormonally activated state let's get further into this. It's awkward to talk about inequality for some people, and it's more awkward when the nature of inequality is somewhat ephemeral," said Stewart. "We can discuss wage gaps and taxes on tampons and measure it in lots of quantifiable ways, but the violence is silencing. It's like we're not even supposed to be angry. But I can eat this podium with a fork and f------ knife, I'm so angry.”

Women have the right to tell their stories, emphasized Stewart, who adapted Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir to make her new film — while noting that opportunities to do so on the silver screen have continued to shrink.

"The backsliding from our brief moment of progress is statistically devastating,” she said. “It is devastating. Such a pitiful number of films from the past last year have been made by women.”

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Kate Hudson at the 2025 Academy Women's Luncheon

According to the Ankler, just three studio movies have been directed by female filmmakers this year: Freakier Friday from director Nisha Ganatra, I Know What You Did Last Summer from Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and two of the three directors of Elio, Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi.

“Our business is in a state of emergency, man,” Stewart continued at the rooftop event held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. “I am thankful to you,” she told the crowd. “I am not grateful to a boys club business model that pretends to want to hang out with us while siphoning our resources and belittling our true perspectives."

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Riley Keough at the Academy Women's Luncheon Presented by Chanel

Breaking through a “misogynist cacophony” to create something authentic is paramount, she emphasized. “Every man, woman, and child should be supported to express their true self, whatever that looks like. Every woman has a right to use their true voice, not the one that's been curated for them by someone else.”

Turning a blind eye, she closed, helps no one. “What feels obvious to me is pretending it isn't happening is not an option,” she said. “Those of us who have been lucky enough to make a movie have a responsibility to those who are yet to come.”

The luncheon annually brings together women from all facets of the filmmaking community to celebrate the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women. This year, fellowships supported by Chanel, which has long committed to nurturing the next generation of women filmmakers, were awarded to Ukrainian-born journalist and filmmaker Alina Simone (U.S. fellow) and documentarian Marlén Viñayo.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”