A Moment That Broke the Internet
There was a moment when the internet respected Meryl Streep more than ever, and it happened because someone accused her of hitting them. While many remember the 2018 Oscars for The Shape of Water winning big and Frances McDormand giving that honest speech, the clip that everyone still talks about is three generations of acting legends roasting each other on stage. They just made it up as they went along.
Jennifer Lawrence will never forget the night she called Meryl Streep a violent menace with a crutch, and neither will the millions who watched the video blow up online.
The Bit That Started It All
The bit started because of a simple problem. The previous year’s Best Actor winner was scheduled to present the Best Actress award. But Casey Affleck had some controversy around him, so the Academy changed plans and sent Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster to the stage instead. Right away, the crowd noticed something off. Jodie Foster, who has two Oscars, limped out on metal crutches.
Lawrence looked pretend-horror-struck and made up her first line on the spot. She said, “Jodie, I’m so sorry. What happened?” Foster didn’t hesitate. She pointed a crutch at the front row and yelled, “Streep!”
The camera cut to Meryl Streep. She looked genuinely shocked and put her hand on her chest. But Foster kept going and said the line that made this bit Oscar history. “She ‘I, Tonya’d’ me,” Foster said. That was a reference to the movie about Tonya Harding attacking Nancy Kerrigan.
Lawrence played along. She put on her usual goofy friend act, nodded seriously, and took it further. “She tripped me once,” Lawrence said. The crowd laughed hard. Then Lawrence added, “She’s so nice at the luncheons, though.” Foster squinted, looked at the audience, and delivered the final blow: “She’s acting.”
They cut back to Streep. She wasn’t playing shocked anymore, and was wiping real tears from her eyes, laughing for real. She let herself be the joke, which almost never happens. The untouchable queen of acting was happy to be the punchline for two younger stars.
The 2013 Golden Globes Mishap
But the moment Jennifer Lawrence really won’t forget actually happened five years earlier, and it came from a confused mess.
At the 2013 Golden Globes, a young Lawrence won for Silver Linings Playbook. When she got to the stage, she looked at her trophy and shouted, “I beat Meryl!” People in the room gasped. Was this new actress really talking trash to the greatest of all time?
No. She wasn’t. She was quoting a 1996 movie called The First Wives Club. But the reference was so obscure that even Streep’s own daughter, Mamie Gummer, said she thought Lawrence was just being funny. Lawrence spent the whole next week doing press and apologizing, explaining she would never insult Streep on purpose. That nervous energy came back years later on the set of Don’t Look Up.
Fear of Meryl Streep on Set
Jennifer Lawrence’s fear of Meryl Streep on Don’t Look Up set
When Lawrence finally got to work with Streep in Adam McKay’s 2021 movie, the nightmare wasn’t about falling down or telling a bad joke. It was about being annoying. Lawrence admitted she was frozen with fear on her first day, telling Vanity Fair, “That’s my worst nightmare.” She said she refused to talk unless someone talked to her first. The director, Adam McKay, remembered Lawrence acting like a shy 12-year-old. She kept needing him to tell her it was okay to approach the legend.
That fear eventually turned into a funny misunderstanding. Lawrence told Stephen Colbert that the cast called Streep “The G.O.A.T.,” which stands for Greatest of All Time. When Streep finally heard them, she joked, “Just tell the old goat where to go.” Lawrence panicked, thinking Streep believed they had been calling her a farm animal for months.
A Legacy of Respect and Humor
From the fake attack at the Oscars to the goat mix-up on set, one thing is clear. For Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep is still the final boss of Hollywood. She is so intimidating that even joking about her takes courage, the kind you might need to cover a war. But as the 2018 bit showed, if you are going to roast the queen, you better make sure she is laughing. And Meryl was crying with laughter.
