Host Rebel Wilson Takes Aim at Putin, J.K. Rowling, and the Royals in Fiery BAFTAS Speech

Leia IdlibyMar 14th, 2022, 4:47 pm
 

Rebel Wilson flips off Putin as BAFTA host

Rebel Wilson made quite the splash while hosting the 2022 BAFTA Awards on Sunday night.

Wilson, only the second non-Brit to emcee the event — and the first in 30 years — took aim at several prominent British figures while hosting, including members of the Royal family and J.K. Rowling. 

Opening the show, Wilson pointed to her recent weight loss, joking that she had gone through “quite a transformation” since the last time she attended the BAFTAs in 2020.

“I hope J.K. Rowling still approves,” she said. “Jk, jk.”

After hitting at Rowling, Wilson gave viewers some lessons in sign language, explaining that the next performance was inspired by Coda, a film centered on a deaf family.

Wilson explained that the performance would be interpreted by two translators, one using American Sign Language, and another using British Sign Language.

“Luckily though, in all sign languages, this is the gesture for [Vladimir Putin],” she added, flashing her middle finger to the cameras.

Wilson also took some shots at the Royal family while hosting, perhaps because Prince William — who is president of BAFTA — skipped this year’s event.

“From drama, to horror, to fantasy, Harry and [Meghan Markle’s] interview with [Oprah Winfrey] had it all,” she joked. “But unfortunately, that’s not nominated in this category.”

The host also hit at Prince Andrew during her speech, cracking that she “was gonna do a musical number as host,” but decided against it because it was about the British royal.

“No, guys, it’s not what you think,” she said, responding to the crowd’s reaction. “It was on roller skates. It was called ‘Pizza Express.'”

The joke references the alibi Prince Andrew gave in response to accusations from Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, during a 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis for Newsnight, in which he was grilled about his relationship with Jeffery Epstein. 

During the interview, Prince Andrew reasoned that he could not have had sex with Giuffre in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home in 2001 because he was attending a children’s party at Pizza Express in Woking.

Giuffre accused Prince Andrew of having sex with her that night in Maxwell’s home, when she was just 17-years-old, after they had partied at Tramp nightclub in London.

Last month, Prince Andrew settled a lawsuit brought by Giuffre, the filing stating that the royal “intends to make a substantial donation” to a charity “in support of victims’ rights,” according to the New York Times.

This is not Wilson’s first time calling out Prince Andrew while speaking at the BAFTA Awards.

In 2020, while presenting the award for Best Director, Wilson joked that “It’s really great to be here at the Royal Andrew … Royal Albert Hall.”

The jab left the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were in attendance that night, looking slightly uncomfortable:


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