Jennifer Lawrence Says She Was “Punished” For Standing Up To A “F***ed Up” Director

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has never been one to stay silent on sexism in Hollywood, and during The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Actress Roundtable last week, she opened up about her own experience with harassment. During the conversation with Emma Stone, Mary J. Blige, Alison Janney, Saiorse Ronan, and Jessica Chastain, harassment in Hollywood (and across other industries) was a huge point of discussion. Without naming names, Lawrence recalled a time on set when she called out a director for inappropriate behavior and was punished for speaking out.

“I finally made the decision to stand up for myself, and then I went to go to the bathroom at work and one of the producers stopped me and was like, ‘You know, we can hear you on the microphone, you’ve been really unruly. Which was not true, but basically my job was threatened because the director said something f**ked up to me and I said, ‘That’s sick, you can’t talk to me like that.'”

“Yeah, you were ‘difficult’,” Stone chimed in.

“Yeah, I was called ‘difficult’ and a ‘nightmare’,” Lawrence continued. “I think a lot of people aren’t coming forward because they’re afraid they’re not going to work again. You need to be able to say, ‘This is wrong’ and have somebody do something about it instead of saying, ‘Oh, it’s wrong? Well, you’re fired.'”

Over the course of the roundtable, the actresses all weighed in with their opinions about harassment and what they can do to move forward and hopefully shift the industry so that the toxic culture is not allowed to continue. Lawrence, while optimistic, admitted that she thinks the change might take longer than they all hope. “It’s deeply ingrained, unfortunately,” she concluded. “It’s kind of this social proof in some way of your masculinity.”

“There is a history of abuse against women in our industry, and it’s never been addressed,” said Chastain. “I’m devastated by all the stories that have come out because it’s heartbreaking, but at the same time I feel hopeful because we’re not ignoring it anymore.”