Stephen Fry has defended a joke he made during tonight's BAFTAs awards show after Jenny Beavan's acceptance speech for Costume Design.
As Beavan left the stage with the accolade she received for her work on Mad Max: Fury Road, Fry said: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to an awards ceremony dressed as a bag lady."
Fry has now insisted that his remarks weren't meant to be malicious, tweeting: "So just a word to the tragic figures who think calling Jenny Beavan a bag lady was an insult. She's a dear friend and she got it. Derrr.
He added: "Will all you sanctimonious f**kers f**k the f**k off - Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate."
And it looks like all was well after the show, as Fry shared a photo of the two captioned: "Jenny Baglady Beavan and Stephen Outrageous Misogynist Swine Fry at the #EEBAFTAs after party".
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A delighted Beavan thanked George Miller in her speech, and recalled a letter she got from a friend after the movie was released.
"Oh what a lovely day! I live, I die, I live again. I received a letter after making this film, it was from James Ivory.
"'Dear Jenny, I did NOT bring you up to run around deserts with half-naked men and scantily-clad females. I did like the chrome lips but that was not your department.
"I hear you are now living in Berlin; maybe that's the explanation for your change of style.'"
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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