Bette Midler has enjoyed a successful musical career spanning almost half a century, and the star can still make headlines. The legendary American singer, songwriter, and actress poked fun at the Academy Awards for not recognizing black actors in its recent awards show, according to USA Today .
On the day of the 2016 Oscars, Bette Midler took to Twitter to describe this year’s Oscars ceremony as “the awards show where Leonardo DiCaprio is ‘overdue’ but black people can ‘wait till next year.’”
The Oscars are today! You know, the awards show where Leonardo DiCaprio is “overdue” but black people can “wait till next year.”
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) February 28, 2016
Bette Midler’s tweet came before the winners of the Oscars 2016 ceremony were announced, when it was still acceptable to joke about Leonardo DiCaprio not having an Oscar. Remember those times? But this year became the best year in DiCaprio’s professional career as the 41-year-old actor, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards in his acting career, finally received his first Oscar for his role in The Revenant .
Thus, Bette Midler became one of the early supporters of the #OscarsSoWhite trend, which was originally created by Broadway Black managing editor April Reign after the Academy announced exclusively white Oscars nominations in 2015. And in 2016, this trend has continued, making it the second Oscars ceremony in a row without black actors and actresses in the four Oscars acting categories.
Although Bette Midler didn’t call for people to boycott the 2016 Oscars ceremony, it became quite a trend this year. A number of high-profile celebrities, including Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lee Daniels, Spike Lee, the Rev. Al Sharpton, urged the public to boycott this year’s Oscars ceremony over the lack of diversity.
As a result, this year’s ceremony showed the lowest ratings in eight years. And it seems that Bette Midler can sleep tight now that the lack of diversity was addressed extensively by host Chris Rock throughout the ceremony. Rock even ended the ceremony by saying, “Black Lives Matter.” (And, Leo DiCaprio finally won his “overdue” Oscar!)
Meanwhile, fans are wondering what has gotten into Kim Kardashian West, as the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star recently posted a number of bold tweets, where she responded to Bette Midler, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Piers Morgan for criticizing her recent post-baby nude selfie, according to People .
It all started with Better Midler’s response to Kardashian’s latest nude selfie.
Bette Midler had a truly brilliant response to Kim Kardashian https://t.co/3DUfKyPklz pic.twitter.com/pJ5cejVqcI
— The Independent (@Independent) March 9, 2016
Kim Kardashian tweeted a nude selfie today. If Kim wants us to see a part of her we’ve never seen, she’s gonna have to swallow the camera.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) March 7, 2016
And it appears that Bette Midler had it the worst, as the 70-years-old singer was accused of being a “fake friend,” and Kim went as far as asking Midler to send her nude pics and stating that absolutely nobody would be interested in seeing them.
hey @BetteMidler I know it’s past your bedtime but if you’re still up and reading this send nudes #justkidding
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 8, 2016
Kardashian West, who appeared naked in the controversial selfie but edited strategically placed black bars on the photo, recalled in one of her tweets addressed to Bette Midler how the 70-years-old singer once sent her a gift “trying to be a fake friend.”
hey @BetteMidler I really didn’t want to bring up how you sent me a gift awhile back trying to be a fake friend then come at me #dejavu
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 8, 2016
Bette Midler responds to Kim Kardashian: https://t.co/DTgXe3IVXM pic.twitter.com/njIepYgwZX
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) March 8, 2016
Kim’s statement caused Bette Midler to backpedal, saying that her original tweet was only a joke.
. @KimKardashian : I never tried to fake friend you. Looks like anyone can take a selfie but not everyone can take a joke…
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) March 8, 2016
It looks like both Bette Midler and her daughter, Sophie von Haselberg, will appear in Marc Jacobs’ spring ad campaign , according to the New York Post . As revealed by von Haselberg herself, she got a call from Jacobs’ team late at night and was asked to co-star with her legendary mom in the designer’s spring ad campaign.
Von Haselberg revealed that she was about to go to bed and Jacobs’ team all of a sudden called her and asked if she would like to co-star the next morning alongside her mother Bette Midler. At first, she thought maybe she should decline the offer due to her nervousness.
“And then I was like, ‘Sophie, you’re being a total idiot.’ I love that Marc always picks such unique people. It’s not a matter of whether you’re a supermodel or how thin you are; it’s people who are actually fascinating to look at and fascinating humans. And I’m so proud to be one.”
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
