There really is no such thing as bad publicity, particularly when the source is a 19-time Oscar nominated actress.
It may not have been the Academy Awards, but MMA received an unusual mention at the Bellator MMA of film and television awards, the 74th Golden Globes.
Meryl Streep was awarded an honourary Golden Globe on the night and rather than enjoy the moment, she used the opportunity to do what no one watching awards ceremonies has ever hoped the winners would do – go political. She went to town on Donald Trump during her acceptance speech and scored a sneaky dig on MMA, claiming that the sport wasn’t art.
Her comment incurred the wrath of the MMA community as fight fans began hitting her up on social media to explain the error of her ways.
The devil wears 4 oz gloves https://t.co/QeFWleUxsN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 10, 2017
While Bellator president Scott Coker’s initial reaction was to invite the Hollywood icon to the upcoming event headlined by Chael Sonnen vs Tito Ortiz, UFC president Dana White went a different route. He tore into Streep during an interview with TMZ, taking shots at her advanced years among other things about her character.
“It’s not going to be everybody’s thing, and the last thing I expect is an uppity 80-year-old lady to be in our demographic and love mixed martial arts.”
“If you really look at who follows the UFC and is in to mixed martial arts, it’s everybody. Like I said: I don’t expect an 80-year-old woman to be a big fan of mixed martial arts. And listen, everybody’s into whatever they’re… I’m not a big fan of golf. Doesn’t mean people should stop watching it. If you don’t like it, change the channel.”
When asked whether the sport was an art or not, White didn’t hesitate to completely disagree with Streep. He even paid her a brief compliment about her acting ability during his explanation for why MMA is a form of art.
“Oh, of course it’s an art. These fighters, the men and women, are so talented. They train their whole lives to become the best in the world. And the people who get into the UFC are the elite of the elite. It’s saying something stupid like that is like saying that she’s not a talented actress, which she is. She’s a very talented actress.”
“We have fighters from all over the world… We do fights in tons of foreign countries. She’s not educated about the sport and it was a completely uneducated comment.”
For the record, Streep was born in 1949, making her considerably less than 80 years old.
