Kristen Stewart kicked off her heels on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival on Monday and climbed the stairs leading to premiere of Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansmen" barefoot in an apparent protest of an unwritten rule that women must wear heels at the prestigious event.
Stewart, a competition jury member, didn't say why she took off her shoes, but the move drew attention from news outlets, which were quick to point out the Cannes "heelgate" controversy of 2015, when film producer Valeria Richter, a partial amputee, and others were turned away for not wearing high heels.
Festival officials have said the event retains a black-tie dress code, but doesn't enforce a specific requirement regarding shoes, Variety reported.
Stewart spoke out about the issue to The Hollywood Reporter last year.
"There's definitely like a distinct dress code, right? People get very upset at you if you don't wear heels or something. But I feel like you can't ask people that anymore. It's just kind of a given. If you're not asking guys to wear heels and a dress, you cannot ask me either," Stewart said then.
Cannes Film Festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux signed a pledge Monday to increase transparency and promote gender equality, The Hollywood Reporter noted.
This year's red carpet moments have been ripe with social movements, including the first transgender appearance by Teddy Geiger at the 2018 BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills.
At Cannes, 82 women planned to protest the limited number of female filmmakers selected over the festival's 71-year history, with 82 women expected to walk the red carpet corresponding with the number of women-directed films to play in the festival's prestigious Palme d'Or competition, compared with 1,645 directed by men.
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