Elizabeth Banks forced to apologise for Spielberg comment

On Wednesday night, the actress made some controversial comments surrounding Steven Spielberg’s choice of lead acts in his films.

During a speech she gave during the Women in Film awards ceremony, the actress exclaimed,

“I went to Indiana Jones and Jaws and every movie Steven Spielberg ever made, and by the way, he’s never made a movie with a female lead. Sorry, Steven. I don’t mean to call your ass out, but it’s true.”

I went to a special event celebrating @womeninfilmla and these nice people made me feel pretty. @luciedoughty did my color, @clatonhawkins @marktownsend1 worked the hair and @fionastiles painted my face. @maxmara gave me the dress. #namaste

A post shared by Elizabeth Banks (@elizabethbanks) on Jun 14, 2017 at 11:28am PDT

Actress Shari Belafonte tried to correct Banks by reminding her that the director did in fact assign Whoopi Goldberg as the main lead in the infamous film, The Color Purple (1985). But, after an audience member shouted that this was wrong, Banks assumed her comments were correct. In fairness to Elizabeth the director has only made three out of thirty films which featured a female lead. But of course, this meant her comments were incorrect. Spielberg not only directed The Color Purple but also The Sugarland Express (1974), with leading star Goldie Hawn, and more recently The BFG (2016) which starred Ruby Barnhill. After being reminded of Spielberg’s works Banks subsequently took to Twitter and Instagram, apologising for the remarks she made.

pic.twitter.com/Sea684ZUoI

— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) June 15, 2017

We’re also not sure if directors are solely to blame in situations such as these. Surely Hollywood needs more writers to create spectacular roles for women to play in films. Let’s hope more of these types flourish, and soon.