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Emily Blunt Decries 'Flatgate,' Cannes Requirement for Women to Wear High Heels

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | May 19, 2015 |

By Cindy Davis | Celebrity | May 19, 2015 |


Silly, silly, silly! Look, it’s one thing to require formal dress for an occasion, especially one as fancypants as the Cannes Film Festival. After all, who could possibly consider attending a film, alternately shoving popcorn and nonpareils in one’s mouth while simultaneously guzzling a monster-sized…champagne Slurpee, dressed as a mere peasant? Seriously though, we get it. There are festivals, and then there is Cannes. It’s high celebrity art, especially when it comes to fashion. But, does dressing up automatically mandate women wear sky high heels? Why yes, apparently at Cannes, it does. After hearing reports that several women were turned away from a screening of Todd Haynes’ Carol, Screen Daily contacted festival officials to see if there was such a policy.

“The festival declined to comment on the matter, but did confirm that it is obligatory for all women to wear high-heels to red-carpet screenings.”

And not only were women turned away, THR claims one woman “…was actually physically pushed off the carpet for wearing sandal platforms that security seemingly took a dislike to.”

WTF? Some of the women turned away for their offensive flats reportedly had medical reasons for not wearing heels, and others — a director’s (Senna) wife — were allowed in:


Emily Blunt, who’s at the festival in support of Sicario (and did wear heels to the premiere) and really should be a dude anyway, was informed of the unfortunately named “flatgate” controversy, and called it “very disappointing.”

“Everyone should wear flats, to be honest,” she said. “We shouldn’t wear high heels anyway, that’s my point of view. You kind of think that there’s these new waves of equality and waves of people realizing that women are just as fascinating and interesting to watch, and bankable.

I prefer to wear Converse sneakers.”

Personally, I’m more inclined to say, everyone should wear whatever the fork they want. As long as they’re comfortable, I enjoy putting on a pair of heels once in a while (though generally, you’ll find me in my Chucks, too). While this sort of thing isn’t exactly worth a rage spiral, it’s a ridiculous policy, and we have to at least pose the question: just who are the folks who made this decision, and if heels are de rigueur, what about the men (at least one was turned away for be-glittered shoes deemed inappropriate)?

Blunt’s Sicario director Denis Villeneuve, is ready to conform:

“Benicio [Del Toro], Josh [Brolin] and I will walk the steps in high heels.”

May I suggest?

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Cindy Davis, (Twitter)