It Seems Like Cate Blanchett's Cannes Red Carpet Dress Wasn't a Political Statement

The Venice Film Festival—the one with boats, not to be confused with the Cannes Film Festival, which is the one not with boats—kicked off on Wednesday, meaning we get a week and a half of celebrities talking to the press, and hopefully giving us little quotes that we can blog about.

Like this one! During a press conference for Cate Blanchett's new Apple TV+ series Disclaimer, a reporter brought up a gown she recently wore on the Cannes red carpet, which a lot of people on the internet interpreted as being a pro-Palestine statement. The reporter, according to Variety, asked Blanchett if she had any similar red-carpet surprises for Venice. "I'm going naked," Blanchett deadpanned in response.

So, I guess that's a no! Blanchett's custom Haider Ackermann for Jean Paul Gaultier gown that she wore on the Cannes red carpet for the premiere of The Apprentice was not meant as a political statement. Honestly, it was a bit of a stretch—the Palestinian flag colors are red, black, green, and white, whereas Blanchett's gown was black, green, and pale pink, with people suggesting that the gown's color combination on top of the red carpet looked like it could have been a subtle nod to Palestine.

But even if the internet was just projecting its activism onto Blanchett, it wasn't completely out of nowhere. In October, Blanchett, who's a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations' refugee agency, signed a petition demanding President Biden push for a ceasefire, which was also signed by dozens of celebs, including Quinta Brunson, Jon Stewart, and Kristen Stewart. And in November, while addressing the European Parliament, she called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

On Thursday, Blanchett wore a velvet black jumpsuit with pearls draped down her back to the Disclaimer premiere, which was neither naked nor political. Yawn.