SEOUL - South Korean television network SBS recently came under fire for editing out a portion of Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar acceptance speech, entertainment website NME reported on Tuesday.
At the 95th Academy Awards held on Sunday, Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win in the Best Actress category for her performance in the film Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Following her win, the 60-year-old delivered an inspiring speech dedicated to “all the boys and girls who look like me”, encouraging them to chase their dreams.
She continued her speech with a message aimed at women around the world, saying: “And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime. Never give up.”
According to Yonhap News Agency, Yeoh’s speech was covered by three of South Korea’s major news networks: KBS, MBC and SBS.
However, controversy erupted after SBS edited out the word “ladies” and translated it to “everyone” in its coverage.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the broadcaster said: “We excluded the word because we felt that the message, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you, you are ever past your prime’, isn’t exclusive to women.”
On Twitter, user @heartnfox wrote: “Don’t (bring) your misogyny to Michelle’s speech. Please be respectful. If you can’t translate her speech accurately, don’t translate it at all.”
@itsakyo echoed the sentiment: “This is Michelle Yeoh’s speech. It belongs to her. Who are they to change it? This is internalised misogyny and misguided entitlement at disturbing levels.”
Meanwhile, some have also highlighted that editing out the word “ladies” to exclude any mention of a gender diminishes the struggles many women are facing in real life.
“They (SBS) censored the word ‘ladies’ with the excuse that it should be for everybody. It’s still unreasonable. There’s a reason why she used ‘ladies’ specifically. To erase it, the meaningful message is lost,” said @ComicsByVieN.
“Michelle Yeoh was specifically talking about women within a specific age range that aren’t being hired because they’re past their prime. By censoring ‘ladies’, it distorts her entire message,” @colapringles wrote in the comments section of a Korea’s entertainment portal’s report.
It is worth mentioning that in February, Yeoh told the Los Angeles Times in a podcast that she was once pressured to retire from acting.
“You know, as you get older, people start saying, ‘Oh yeah, you should retire. You should do this. You should…’ No, guys. Do not tell me what to do. I should be in control of what I am capable of, right?” she said.
Following the backlash, SBS has since removed the edited segment on YouTube and re-uploaded the full speech, which included Yeoh’s use of the word “ladies”.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
