Cannes 2015: Flats-Wearing Women Get Rejected, Celebs Weigh In

One look at the Cannes Film Festival red carpet, and you know the unofficial motto is “go big or go home.” But we didn’t realize that applied to heel height as well. After reports surfaced that women were being turned away from the festival’s famous stairs for wearing fancy flats instead of celeb-worthy stilettos, celebs weighed in on the injustice of it all.

ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty

According to Screen International, Emily Blunt was asked about the red carpet rejections at a press junket for her film Sicaro (that’s her in a Peter Pilotto dress and Jimmy Choo, yes, heels) attending the event, above). “Everyone should wear flats to be honest. We shouldn’t be wearing high heels anyways,” Blunt reportedly said. “That’s my point of view. I just prefer wearing Converse sneakers.” The film’s director was said to chime in, joking that he and her costars Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin would also be wearing heels to the film’s Tuesday premiere in protest.

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Though several people (including Senna director Asif Kapadia) corroborated reports that even older women and women with disabilities were turned away from the Carol premiere and instructed to come back when they had bought appropriate shoes, a Cannes spokesperson told the BBC by email that there were no such restrictions in place. “Rules have not changed throughout the years (tuxedo, formal dress for gala screenings) and there is no specific mention about the height of the women’s heels as well as for men’s,” the spokesperson explained. Festival director Thierry Fremaux also Tweeted that the reports were “unfounded.”

Can you believe there’s a heel height requirement? Would you wear flats with a gown?

–Alex Apatoff
Follow @nicefunalex

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