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Rose McGowan Is Today’s Feminist Hero. Here’s Why

She penned a scathing op-ed piece in defense of Renee Zellweger

Last week, Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote a *very* controversial column scrutinizing Zellweger’s appearance in the new trailer for Bridget Jones’s Baby.

And now, in an op-ed for the Hollywood Reporter, Rose McGowan has come to Zellweger’s defense, labeling Gleiberman’s offending column as ‘vile, damaging, stupid and cruel’.

Why is McGowan so riled up? Well, according to Gleiberman, Zellweger looks different – referring to the Bridget Jones actress’ rumored plastic surgery – meaning she has cheated audiences and can no longer live up to her character.

“Watching the trailer, I didn’t stare at the actress and think: She doesn’t look like Renée Zellweger,” he said.

“I thought: She doesn’t look like Bridget Jones! Oddly, that made it matter more. Celebrities, like anyone else, have the right to look however they want, but the characters they play become part of us. I suddenly felt like something had been taken away.”

McGowan wasn’t having a bar of this. “Renée Zellweger is a human being, with feelings, with a life, with love and with triumphs and struggles, just like the rest of us,” she said.

“How dare you bully a woman who has done nothing but try to entertain people like you. Her crime, according to you, is growing older in a way you don’t approve of. Who are you to approve of anything? What you are doing is vile, damaging, stupid and cruel. It also reeks of status quo white-male privilege. . . . You are an active endorser of what is tantamount to harassment and abuse of actresses and women.”

We’re siding with McGowan on this one.

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