After the internet was fired up about how best actress Oscar winner Emma Stone seemed to ignore Michelle Yeoh while accepting the award, Yeoh addressed the moment on social media on Monday.
Yeoh, who was among several previous winners of the category to present the award to Stone for her role in “Poor Things,” wrote in an Instagram post that she had unwittingly “confused” the newly crowned winner on stage.
Stone had prompted backlash after many thought she had grabbed the Oscar from Yeoh, ignored her and immediately proceeded to greet Jennifer Lawrence, who was next to Yeoh. Video of the moment shows Yeoh handing the award to Stone and then passing it on to Lawrence, with both of them then congratulating Stone.
“Congratulations Emma!! I confused you, but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!!” Yeoh wrote on Instagram, alongside pictures of the three of them on stage. “She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis. Always there for each other!!”
Viewers also called out another situation during the ceremony in which Robert Downey Jr. was accepting the best supporting actor Oscar for his work in “Oppenheimer.” Many thought that Downey failed to acknowledge or make eye contact with last year’s winner Ke Huy Quan, who handed the statuette off to him. It led people across the internet to accuse both Stone and Downey of “unconsciously discriminating” against Asians and behaving disrespectfully toward the martial arts icon.
Neither Stone nor Downey and Quan responded to NBC News’ request for comment.
The night ended up being a big one for Yeoh, who was celebrating the one-year anniversary of her own best actress win, which made her the first Asian to take home the category in the Academy’s 95-year history.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” Yeoh said in her acceptance speech last year. “This is proof that dreams dream big and dreams do come true.”