Entertainment
Cate Blanchett, worth $95 million, slammed for saying she’s ‘middle class’: ‘Compared to who? Jeff Bezos?’
Cate Blanchett has some fans in an uproar.
The Oscar winner, 55, received backlash online for saying at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival that she is “middle class.”
Blanchett is worth $95 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The “Ocean’s 8” star made the “middle class” comment during a press conference at Cannes, where she premiered her new movie “Rumours.”
“I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle class and I think one can be accused of having a bit of a white savior complex,” Blanchett said while discussing her experience with refugee filmmakers.
She continued: “But to be perfectly honest, my interaction with refugees in the field and also in resettled environments has totally changed my perspective on the world, and I’m utterly grateful for that.”
Fans slammed Blanchett on X, formerly known as Twitter, after her comment at Cannes made its rounds on social media.
“Cate Blanchett thinks she’s ‘middle class’ compared to who? Jeff Bezos? Rich people are so out of touch,” one X user wrote.
“She is disconnected from reality,” another account said.
A third person sarcastically tweeted, “Yes, it’s really tough having to deal with the poors.”
A different user joked, “Cate Blanchett is ‘middle class’… and I am a giraffe.”
However, other fans defended Blanchett and pointed out that she was using the term “middle class” in British slang, where it refers to heritage and family status rather than wealth.
“She is speaking of her class not her bank balance,” one person explained on X.
Another user said, “Class and money are different. She might consider herself middle class because she isn’t royalty.”
Another tweet read, “For some reason when Brits say middle class they mean rich. Apparently Brits have 3 social spheres, poor, middle class and royalty. The first one encompasses nearly everyone.”
The Post has reached out to Blanchett’s rep for comment.
Blanchett’s new dark comedy made its debut at Cannes Saturday night, receiving a four-minute standing ovation.
Directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, “Rumours” also stars Alicia Vikander, Charles Dance, Roy Dupuis, Denis Ménochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Rolando Ravello.
The film “follows a group of world leaders who meet at the G7 — a political and economic meeting of the minds between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — but get lost in the woods while trying to compose a joint statement,” according to Variety.
At the Cannes press conference with the cast, Blanchett said “Rumours” isn’t “trying to be an important film with a message.”
“It’s definitely not that,” she noted.