Meryl Streep Slams Walt Disney: Calls Him a 'Gender Bigot' and an Anti-Semitic [PHOTOS] [WATCH VIDEOS]
Award-winning Hollywood actress Meryl Streep reportedly slammed Walt Disney and called him a "gender bigot" and an anti-Semitic in a speech she delivered during the National Board of Review Awards gala in New York City. Streep's rant against Disney was made in connection to the Disney film "Saving Mr. Banks" starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as "Mary Poppins" author Pamela "P.L." Travers. The film's story revolves around Disney's attempts to convince P.L. Travers to obtain the film rights for the author's novels.
"Disney, who brought joy, arguably, to billions of people, was perhaps, or had some ... racist proclivities. He formed and supported an anti-Semitic industry lobby. And he was certainly, on the evidence of his company's policies, a gender bigot," said Streep in a Sydney Morning Herald report.
Streep claimed that Disney did not like women and she even read a letter from Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. that was sent to aspiring female illustrator Mary Ford on June 7, 1938.
"Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school," read the Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. letter which was published on Retronaut.
"The only work open to women consists of tracing the character on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to the directions," the letter further reads.
Click HERE to read the entire contents of the said letter.
CREDIT: YouTube/WaltDisneyStudiosUK
Streep also said that when she saw "Saving Mr. Banks," she imagined Disney's exasperation when dealing with Travers, especially because it took him 20 years to finally convince Travers to give him her novels' screen rights.
As Meryl Streep slammed Walt Disney by calling him a "gender bigot" and an anti-Semitic, she praised fellow Hollywood actress Emma Thompson, who won best actress in the National Board of Review Awards. Streep referred to Thompson as a "beautiful artist" who's "practically a saint." As if that wasn't enough, she proceeded to read "An Ode to Emma, Or What Emma is Owed." Thompson thanked Streep profusely for the kind words she bestowed upon her.
CREDIT: YouTube/WaltDisneyStudiosUK
