Cate Blanchett confused fans by referring to herself as “middle class” despite her Hollywood A-lister status.
Blanchett, 55, made the comments while speaking about giving refugee filmmakers a platform during a Monday, May 20, United Nations press conference at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
“I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle class, and I think, you know, one can be accused of having a bit of a white savior complex, but to be perfectly honest, my interaction with the refugees in the field and also in resettled environments has totally changed my perspective on the world and I am utterly grateful for that,” she said in a video shared via TikTok by the Associated Press.
Blanchett continued, “I think if you do have a platform, I want to be in dialogue with these people. I’ve met some extraordinary people with extraordinary creative talents and amazing perspective.”
For some fans, the Oscar winner’s remarks about her work with refugee filmmakers was overshadowed by her claim about being middle class.
“You think you’re middle class, Cate Blanchett?” one TikTok user commented on the clip.
“I love Cate Blanchett, but in what world is she ‘middle class’ she’s been in two major franchises,” another chimed in, seemingly referring to Blanchett’s portrayals of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Hela in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok.
“Middle class my ass,” a third commenter chimed in.
Other fans, meanwhile, saw no problem with Blanchett’s statement.
“I was gonna jump on that ‘middle class’ comment but then I realized there are Masters of the Universe, with multiple billions — upper class,” one TikTok user argued in her defense. “Then upper middle class I guess with 100s of mils and then lower middle class with 100s of thousands. All else are really working class now.”
Several other commenters praised the actress’ humanitarian work.
“This is [a] sincere support of peace! #welldone,” one TikTok user wrote.
Another person commented, “Fantastic to hear her speaking out.”
The video also sparked conversation on X.
“Cate Blanchett referring to herself as middle class has me cry laughing,” one user wrote on Tuesday.
Another account argued, “When on earth is a Hollywood star considered middle class. She may have [grown] up in the middle class, but there’s no country on this earth that would put her in the MC now.”
Other X users pointed out that class often refers to more than a person’s bank account balance or net worth.
“Class and money are different. She might consider herself middle class because she isn’t royalty,” one person wrote.
Another X user argued that the term middle class has different meanings in different parts of the world.
“For some reason when Brits say middle class they mean rich. Apparently Brits have 3 social spheres, poor, middle class and royalty. The first one encompasses nearly everyone,” the user wrote.
Blanchett has not responded to the backlash. Us Weekly has reached out to her team for comment.
