Meryl Streep clarifies her ‘we are all Africans’ comment ahead of Oscars

Clarification: Meryl Streep has spoken out about her comments
Clemens Bilan/Getty Images
Jennifer Ruby26 February 2016
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Meryl Streep has spoken out to clarify her recent comments in the midst of the ‘#OscarsSoWhite’ controversy.

The award winner has insisted that her remarks were taken out of context and weren’t in relation to the boycott of the Academy Awards or the Berlin Film Festival’s all-white jury.

During a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival last week, she was quoted as saying:

“There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all, we're all from Africa originally, you know? We're all Berliners, we're all Africans, really."

Oscar nominations 2016

1/10

But while many people thought that is was in response to a question about the jury being made up predominately of white men, Streep has now said that it was actually about something else altogether.

In a piece on Huffington Post, he wrote: “Contrary to distorted reporting, no one at that press conference addressed a question to me about the racial makeup of the jury.

“I did not 'defend' the 'all-white jury,' nor would I, if I had been asked to do so. Inclusion - of races, genders, ethnicities and religions - is important to me, as I stated at the outset of the press conference."

Streep went on to explain that she’d actually been asked by a reporter is she’s “seen many Arab films.”

“I was not minimizing difference but emphasizing the invisible connection empathy enables, a thing so central to the fact of being human, and what art can do: convey another person's experience,” she continued.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in