CANNES, France (AP) — Julia Roberts ascended the famed red-carpet steps to the Cannes Film Festival barefoot, a year after several women were famously turned away from the festival's premieres for not wearing high heels.

At the premiere of Jodie Foster's "Money Monster" on Thursday, Roberts went shoeless to climb the steps that conclude Cannes' iconic carpet. She slipped out of her heels, bundled up her flowing black gown and bounded barefoot up the stairs.

Protocol on Cannes' red carpet is extremely rigid. Last year, several attendees were denied entry for wearing flat shoes and a media storm erupted. The festival said it was a mistake by its guards and that no such dress policy for heel height exists.

The French magazine L'Express applauded Roberts' barefoot gambit as a "veritable act of militant feminism."