Variety writer DEFENDS his ‘sexist’ review of Carey Mulligan’s movie Promising Young Woman

The writer behind Variety’s review of Carey Mulligan’s movie Promising Young Woman has spoken out in his won defence amid accusations of sexism.

Dennis Harvey recently became the target of an online furore, after he referred to the actress, 35, as an ‘odd choice’ for the femme fatale role, while suggesting that producer Margot Robbie would have been a better choice.

And in a new interview with the Guardian, the film critic has branded Carey’s reaction to his words ‘bizarre’ and ‘quite a leap’ – insisting his review never once compared the attractiveness of the actresses.

He said: ‘[W]hile Carey Mulligan is certainly entitled to interpret the review however she likes, her projection of it suggesting she’s “not hot enough” is, to me, just bizarre. I’m sorry she feels that way. But I’m also sorry that’s a conclusion she would jump to, because it’s quite a leap.’

Harvey also admitted to being unsure about his future with Variety after writing for them for 30 years, as they apologised for his ‘insensitive’ review.

‘I did not say or even mean to imply Mulligan is ‘not hot enough’ for the role,’ he said. ‘I’m a 60-year-old gay man. I don’t actually go around dwelling on the comparative hotnesses of young actresses, let alone writing about that.’

‘[I’m] appalled to be tarred as misogynist, which is something very alien to my personal beliefs or politics,’ he continued. ‘This whole thing could not be more horrifying to me than if someone had claimed I was a gung-ho Trump supporter.’

During his interview, Harvey pointed out the fact that his article had remained online for 11 months without complaint until Carey spoke out against it. 

He also said that US distributors asked to use pullquotes from his review as a part of their marketing campaign shortly after the review was posted last year. 

In his Variety review, Harvey stated that Mulligan appeared to be in ‘bad drag’ in the film, as he suggested Robbie should have taken on the role instead.  

During an interview with the New York Times late last year, Mulligan had blasted Variety for the ‘sexist’ critique, saying it ‘drove [her] crazy’.

The review read: ‘Mulligan, a fine actress, seems a bit of an odd choice as this admittedly many-layered apparent femme fatale — Margot Robbie is a producer here, and one can (perhaps too easily) imagine the role might once have been intended for her.

‘Whereas with this star, Cassie wears her pickup-bait gear like bad drag; even her long blonde hair seems a put-on.’ 

The Variety review was posted online a year ago, but was updated with an ‘Editor’s Note’ apology in bold after Mulligan spoke out about in a recent interview.

‘Variety sincerely apologizes to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review of ‘Promising Young Woman’ that minimized her daring performance,’ the apology reads. 

Variety told the Daily Telegraph that Harvey is a freelance critic, and would not comment on whether he would continue to write for the publication.

A statement said: ‘Variety has no further comment. The apology speaks for itself.’

Mulligan spoke out again this week, talking about the controversy with fellow movie star Zendaya in Variety‘s Actors on Actors series.

During the interview, Zendaya probed Mulligan on calling out Variety after the Promising Young Woman review was released.

‘I feel it’s important that criticism is constructive,’ Mulligan said. ‘I think it’s important that we are looking at the right things when it comes to work, and we’re looking at the art and we’re looking at the performance. 

‘And I don’t think that goes to the appearance of the actor or your personal preference for what an actor does or doesn’t look like — which it felt that that article did.’ 

‘So I think in criticising or bemoaning a lack of attractiveness on my part in a character, it wasn’t a personal slight,’ Mulligan continued.

‘It didn’t wound my ego, but it made me concerned that in such a big publication an actress’s appearance could be criticised and it could be accepted as completely reasonable criticism.

‘It’s important to call out those things, because they seem small and they seem insignificant. But it stuck with me, because I think it’s these kind of everyday moments that add up.’

‘Beautifully said,’ Zendaya responded. 

The apology came about after Mulligan called out Variety in an interview with The New York Times after Variety published their review.

‘I read the Variety review, because I’m a weak person,’ Mulligan said to the Times. ‘And I took issue with it. It felt like it was basically saying that I wasn’t hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse.

‘It drove me so crazy. I was like, ‘Really? For this film, you’re going to write something that is so transparent? Now? In 2020?’ I just couldn’t believe it.’

But Variety’s apology has been criticised by fellow movie critic Jeffrey Wells, who said that while he disagreed with Harvey’s review the publication should have given him an opportunity to respond. 

He blasted online: ‘They’ve completely washed their hands of Harvey in this instance and have more or less thrown him under the bus.’ 

Promising Young Woman, first released on Christmas Day in 2020, features Mulligan as Cassie, who fights back against the men who try to sleep with her while she is seemingly intoxicated.

Mulligan has earned a Best Actress award from the National Board of Review for her performance, with Oscar buzz following her as well.