Jennifer Lawrence wants fans to know she wasn’t trying to prove a point or make a statement when she walked the 2023 Cannes Film Festival red carpet in May.
Lawrence swapped out her high heels for flip flops when she was given a pair that were one size too big, Entertainment Tonight reported. The famous actress said she was afraid she would fall, so she slipped on her flip flops with her haute couture Christian Dior gown, and attended the celebrity-studded event, only to break the internet with her bold fashion choice. Fans immediately took note and assumed Lawrence was making a statement about her choice to wear flat shoes, which is a huge faux-pas at these types of events.
“I would really like to straighten this out. I was not making a political statement,” she told People.
“I was not making a political statement, not that I wouldn’t. I had no idea until it like, came out that there was a whole controversy w people wearing flats, or like walking down the red carpet barefoot. I had no clue. My shoes were a size too big.” #JenniferLawrence #cannes2023 pic.twitter.com/xgtsc88XGb
— Lawrliciouss (@lawrliciouss) June 9, 2023
“I had no idea until it came out that there was a whole controversy with people wearing flats or walking down the red carpet barefoot, I had no clue,” she said.
“My shoes were a size too big.”
Lawrence posed for photos with her production team, Excellent Cadaver, completely unaware of the steady stream of comments being exchanged about her online.
“So, we had to take an Excellent Cadaver picture, and I knew I would eat shit if I went down in the shoes that were a size too big,” she said.
“I put on the flip-flops, and then everybody’s like, ‘What a statement! Wow!'” she told Entertainment tonight.
The online chatter was based on a long history of controversy surrounding wearing high heels at the Cannes Film Festival. Women wearing flat shoes were denied entry when they arrived to the 2015 festival, which sparked widespread outrage, according to People. The following year, Julia Roberts boldly challenged the topic by wearing no shoes at all during her walk on the red carpet, and A-listers including Kristen Stewart and Susan Sarandon wore flats in a form of protest to force change. (RELATED: All The ‘Holy Crap’ Moments From The Met Gala)
Lawrence said she was misunderstood and wanted to clarify that her intention was simply to be safe while she strutted her stuff on the red carpet
“I’m all for making a statement,” she said. “I just would want it to be on purpose.”