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Streep, who earlier this month headed up her first
international film jury at the Berlin Film Festival, said her
comments to an Egyptian reporter during a press conference about
whether she was familiar with cinema from Africa and the Middle
East, were "distorted."
"I was not minimizing difference, but emphasizing the invisible
connection empathy enables, a thing so central to the fact of
being human, and what art can do: convey another person's
experience," Streep wrote.
The furor over her comments came amid an uproar in Hollywood
over this year's all-white Oscar acting nominees for a second
consecutive year, sparking the #OscarsSoWhite discussion.
The actress also added in the piece entitled "Setting The Record
Straight From Berlin" that she was not asked at the press
conference about the all-white jury at this year's festival.
"I did not "defend" the "all-white jury," nor would I, if I had
been asked to do so. Inclusion -- of races, genders, ethnicities
and religions -- is important to me, as I stated at the outset
of the press conference," she said.
The comments from the three-time Oscar winner, one of the most
admired actresses of her generation, quickly went viral and made
headlines around the world as some critics expressed
disappointment. Others at the time said her remarks were taken
out of context.
Streep said she hoped the attention drawn by her "misconstrued
remarks" would be directed toward celebrating this year's Berlin
film festival award winners, which included Gianfranco Rosi's
"Fire At Sea" about African immigrants.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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