While simply existing in public spaces, women are often subjected to people who feel their bodies are there to be commented on. Hannah Waddingham recently took the time to put a photographer in his place when he decided to be gross to her while on a red carpet.
Waddingham was dressed in a beautiful purple gown, standing with her hand on her hip, posing for photos outside the 2024 Olivier Awards in London, when a photographer reportedly instructed her to show some leg as she was posing.
The video shows her posing, the inaudible exchange, and then you can very clearly hear Waddingham’s response to him. “Oh my God, you’d never say that to a man,” Waddingham says. “Don’t be a dick otherwise I’ll move off. Don’t say ‘show me leg.’ No.”
The fan account @odeiotedlasso posted their video of the exchange to X, along with an explanation of what happened. “[Long] story short: hannah was being her gorgeous self and the [photographer] made some comment about her leg we couldn’t quite make out and… well, the video speaks for itself. This woman is a role model. Always, always call pricks out on their bullshit.”
It is honestly shocking that we are still dealing with this in 2024. With initiatives like “Ask Her More” dominating the conversation around award season, it felt like we were moving in the right direction of what not to do but now we have this video of Hannah Waddingham defending herself.
Stop doing this stuff to women on red carpets!
It is honestly shocking that we are still dealing with this in 2024. There have been lots of initiatives, like “Ask Her More,” encouraging the media to rethink the way they talk to and about women. For a while it felt like we were moving in the right direction but instances like this one show we still have so much further to go in being granted basic respect. Waddingham did a fantastic job standing up for herself against an instance of blatant sexism at a work event, but she never should have had to do that in the first place.
Waddingham pushing back and then refusing to give that photographer a picture of her was a perfect response because she’s right! You wouldn’t say that to a man. So kudos to Waddingham for standing up for herself but she shouldn’t have to do that on a night of celebrating—or ever.
(featured image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images For SOLT)
