BAFTA viewers outraged as top actress labelled 'a random girl'
Crowds of BAFTA 2024 viewers have been left offended after one of the world's biggest stars was labelled a 'random girl'.
The thing with award shows is you aren't guaranteed to know everyone who walks down the red carpet, but that doesn't mean your ignorance is always forgiven by fellow fans.
The 77th British Academy Film Awards took place at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday evening (18 February) where a star-studded audience gathered to see who would win the top film awards given out in the UK.
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Legendary Doctor Who actor David Tennant took on presenting duties, with a host of stars taking to the stage to present individual awards.
The big winners of the night were Cillian Murphy for his leading role in Oppenheimer and Emma Stone for Poor Things, with them taking home best actor and actress, respectively.
Oppenheimer was the big winner overall, winning best film and and also bagging the most awards at a total of seven, meaning it won more than half of the total awards it was nominated for (14). The best film award also had fans in floods of tears for another reason.
There was no issue with knowing who Murphy or Stone are given their prominence in Western cinema and being cast in leading roles throughout British and American film.
But the ignorance was strong when it came to the star presenting the award for Best Film Not In The English Language.
Taking to social media, some viewers simply didn't know who the presenter was.
One said: "I don't know who she is..."
Commenting on her glamorous dress, another posted saying 'that random girl ate'.
The star in question was Deepika Padukone, one of the most successful names in Bollywood and the highest paid actress in India.
Padukone took to the stage in a sparkling gold and silver saree and was greeted to rapturous applause.
Her acting credentials focus mostly on Hindi films but she also has some Hollywood roles to her name, including XXX: Return Of Xander Cage alongside Vin Diesel.
In 2018, she was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2022, she was given the Time100 Impact Award.
Given her success, her net worth is estimated to stand at around 5,000,000,000 Indian Rupees (£47.7 million).
The comments on social media were too much for some fans.
One replied: "Calling Deepika Padukone some random girl is absolutely insane behaviour."
A second said: "It's actually crazy... have some shame."
A third added: "Calling Deepika Padukone 'random' [clown face emoji] it doesn't take much time to Google you know, right?"
A fourth said: "India's biggest superstar is not some random, trust me."
While there's no shame in not knowing who someone might be, it's probably best to give their name a quick Google before taking to social media.
After all, she's obviously no 'random girl' if she's been invited to present at the BAFTAs.
Topics: BAFTAs, TV and Film, UK News
Tom Earnshaw