She Hulk’sJameela Jamil took to Instagram to shut down rumors of a feud with genderfluid The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey over talk of gendered award show categories.
Jamil is one of a growing number of celebrities who are discussing how best to handle award categories so as to include gender nonconforming actors. Nonbinary artists such as Ramsey, Emma Corrin, Emma D’Arcy, Sam Smith, and Justin David Sullivan have all spoken out about the need for greater inclusivity.
On June 18, The Good Place star posted screenshots from her recent Instagram story asking if it “would be better to give non-binary people their own category rather than open the door for Hollywood to completely shut out women given the known disproportionate amount of men vs women winning at awards shows.”
Jamil said that if award shows do away with gendered categories in the name of inclusivity, she worries that “we will see a growing ire” from women who will likely be shut out of awards shows “in a world that favors men.”
The fear is not unfounded considering the Brit Awards came under fire earlier this year when not a single woman was nominated for Artist of the Year after the award show switched to gender neutral categories.
Jamil went on to say that both women and nonbinary people will be hurt if award shows “minimize the amount of possible winners.”
“We should look to expand the possibilities so gender non-conforming people and women have a fair shot in an industry that for a long time struggled to treat others equal to men,” she said.
In the caption to her post, Jamil brought up that the Oscars already has a gender neutral Best Director category, but that “it's rare to even see a woman nominated never mind win.” The first golden statue was handed out in 1929 and since then only seven women have won the award.
In response, former Game of Thrones star Ramsey took to social media to repost Jamil’s Instagram story alongside a screenshot of her own comment.
“I feel weird about there being a whole new category,” Ramsey wrote. “I think it’s more about language … I would love award categories to be ‘Actress / Non-Binary Performer’ and ‘Actor / Non-Binary Performer’ – then the performer can be submitted to their preferred category.”
She continued: “It’s not a perfect solution, but that’s my take on it. I think it’s more about making us feel seen and included rather than categorized.”
Bella Ramsey's response to Jameela Jamil's Instagram post.
@bellaramsey/Instagram
This quickly led people to believe the two stars were at odds with one another, but Jamil shut down that idea immediately with a response on Instagram. “To anyone who thinks myself and Bella Ramsey are at odds, we are not, we are DMing really lovely messages and just discussing it together as everyone should because we are all in this together,” she wrote.
“They are lovely and wonderful and I love that they are saying what they think is best,” Jamil continued. “It is so needed. I am deferential to whoever is most qualified to make this decision … My post clearly states that I am just asking. I’m not telling anyone what to do. We all want the same thing, equal opportunities for all. We are all on the same side here. The side of love and of men not just sweeping all the awards because the industry is still a little behind.”
Jameela Jamil responds to rumors of a feud with Bella Ramsey.
@jameelajamil/Instagram
Beyond the rumors of a supposed feud with Ramsey, Jamil also received thousands of comments on her initial post, some agreeing with her stance and others calling her a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist).
Jamil took issue with this and hit back in her Instagram stories, saying, “My words were either not being read properly or deliberately taken out of context, and hyperbolised … suddenly people were saying ‘Trans women are women’ to me, as if I don’t f**king know that. And I wasn’t talking about trans women competing in women’s categories, I never had an issue with that.”
Ramsey spoke out about this issue in an interview with Vanity Fair last month after feeling “uncomfortable” submitting under “actress” for this year’s Emmys.
“I don’t want the limitations in terms of the language in the categories to be a reason that nonbinary actors like me can’t be celebrated,” they said. “And it can open up a conversation about how it feels – as long as I’m aware of the fact that it’s not ideal, but also that finding alternatives is really complex.”
