The film industry has been giving Nicole Kidman plenty of reasons to be snarky since starring in her 1989 breakthrough role “Dead Calm.” But before becoming an actress, her upbringing was what helped equip her with the wit that would serve her well as an adult. One of the more tragic details about Kidman’s life is that she and her parents had very little growing up when they moved to America. Although they struggled to get by, Kidman was raised in an incredibly loving and outspoken household that always encouraged open discussion where no topic was off the table. So Kidman was already used to being candid about her political and personal views, which she’s often shared with the public even after achieving Hollywood stardom.
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Additionally, Kidman was also teased at school because of her height and unique appearance. Despite being nicknamed “The Stork” by her classmates, she was eventually able to become one of the more popular kids at her school due to her upbringing. Her attitude has come in handy in a business where everything, from her looks to her relationship status, is picked apart and analyzed. She’s even shown that exes like Tom Cruise aren’t safe from the shade she’s so good at throwing.
She threw major shade at Martin Scorsese for not making movies about women
Nicole Kidman has been a working actor since the 1980s, so she’s had the pleasure of working with a variety of filmmakers and actors. This includes her ex-husband Tom Cruise, who she’s starred alongside in several films. But Hollywood is a big place, so there are some artists that Kidman hasn’t been able to collaborate with just yet. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she rattled off a list of directors she’d be eager to work with sometime in the future. Naturally, Oscar-winner and cinematic royalty Martin Scorsese was at the top of that list. But in true Kidman fashion, she couldn’t help but add just a dash of spicy shade in her compliment of the filmmaker. “I’ve always said I want to work with [Martin] Scorsese, if he does a film with women,” she quipped.
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It’s a sly criticism that Scorsese isn’t a stranger to. Although his movies feature women, they’re rarely leading his movies. The 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” starring Ellen Burstyn is one of the only instances where Scorsese had a woman drive the narrative. However, don’t tell him about his filmography’s female shortage. During a press conference for his movie “The Irishman” in 2019, Scorsese made it clear that he was tired of addressing the criticism. “That’s not even a valid point,” Scorsese said, per IndieWire. “That’s not valid. I can’t … That goes back to 1970. That’s a question that I’ve had for so many years. Am I supposed to? If the story doesn’t call for it … It’s a waste of everybody’s time. If the story calls for a female character lead, why not?” With enough luck, maybe a story like that might show up on Kidman’s doorstep one day before it’s too late.
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She clapped back at Andy Cohen for mentioning her bizarre 2017 Oscars applause
A case can be made that Nicole Kidman officially made it in the entertainment industry when she became an internet meme. She made headlines at the highly coveted Oscars ceremony in 2017, but not because she won any awards. Instead, the camera panned over to Kidman while she and her contemporaries were in the middle of a standing ovation. The brief clip made Kidman the talk of the night — she was seen uncomfortably clapping her hands like a seal (one of the many awkward Oscars moments that were caught on camera). Needless to say, the video especially caught fire quickly on the internet, and Kidman experienced a new type of stardom when she became a viral sensation overnight.
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It turns out the reason for Kidman’s clap was that she had huge rings on her fingers at the time, and she simply didn’t want to damage her jewelry. Still, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen had to approach the topic when they hosted CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” broadcast in 2018. It almost seemed like Kidman came ready with a response when speaking to the on-air personalities about her Oscars gaff. “I wish that there were more important things to be concerned about or that people were focused on more important things than that sort of clapping,” Kidman told them (via E! News).
After the interview ended, it didn’t take long for Cohen to realize that he’d been roasted by Kidman in a very polite manner. “That was so cool that Nicole Kidman joined in,” he said. “I think she just shaded me a little bit.” But in case there was any lingering doubt in Cohen’s mind, Cooper was there to let his broadcast partner know, “Well yeah, she did. Yes.”
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She called out Hollywood for not making more original films
Nicole Kidman’s shade doesn’t just target people. In some instances, the entire film industry feels the wrath of her honesty. Although Hollywood may have progressed in areas like diversity and gender inequality, some actors have felt it’s actually regressed in terms of originality. Studios have become more willing to greenlight big IPs that already come with a potential built-in audience. Think of projects like “Harry Potter,” “Star Wars,” and especially Marvel movies.
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Kidman agreed with this sentiment and threw shade at the Marvel superhero “Deadpool” while addressing her concerns about the movie industry. “Everything’s hard now,” she told Vanity Fair. “Actually everything. I mean, maybe not ‘Deadpool,’ but there’s nothing that’s, ‘Oh my gosh. Yep. This is it. Greenlight, let’s go.’ Or maybe it’s just the things that I do.” Still, Kidman wasn’t panicking — she was already used to the ebbs and flows in Hollywood and felt people needed to adapt to the constant changes in cinema. “I think it requires more aligning with the right people and pooling our resources and choosing to not spread yourself too thin so that you have the energy and the desire to keep moving forward,” she explained. “But it’s always been hard. I mean, I started at 14, so I’ve seen a lot now.”
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She threw shade at her ex-husband Tom Cruise’s alleged insecurities
Perhaps one of Nicole Kidman’s most well-known roasts was when she threw a light jab at her ex-husband, Tom Cruise. The two got married on December, 24, 1990 and enjoyed a decade’s worth of love before their divorce on August 8, 2001. What made the split even harder for Kidman was that, not unlike many at the time, she didn’t see it coming at all. “I thought our life together was perfect,” she said in an interview with DuJour. But Kidman only managed to bounce back, perhaps better than ever.
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Speaking on “Late Show with David Letterman,” Kidman couldn’t help but poke slight fun at her ex-husband. She quipped to the comedian that she at least had more choices in her wardrobe thanks to the split. “I can wear heels now,” she joked. The remark was a not-so-subtle jab at Cruise’s true height — 5 feet, 7 inches. So how tall is Kidman? Reportedly around 5 feet, 11 inches. When wearing heels, one can only imagine how much the “Babygirl” actress dwarfed her ex back in the day.
She was accused of snubbing her and Tom Cruise’s adopted children
The internet believed Nicole Kidman might’ve reached a new level of savagery by shading her and Tom Cruise’s adopted children. Kidman and Cruise took in their first daughter, Isabella, in 1992. In 1995, the pair adopted their second child, Connor Cruise. After the power couple went their separate ways, however, there were mumblings that Kidman had fallen out of favor with their kids, too. The rumors claimed that the Cruise children stayed loyal to their father, who allegedly raised them in the Church of Scientology.
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The rumors gained more traction when Kidman delivered a speech at the 2017 Emmy Awards. The actress took the stage after winning a best actress trophy for “Big Little Lies” and paid tribute to her and Keith Urban’s family while accepting the honor. “I have two little girls, Sunday and Faith, and my darling Keith,” Kidman said at the Primetime Emmys. “This is yours,” she later added.
But it was noted that Kidman omitted her adopted and now all-grown-up son and daughter entirely during the career-defining moment, a silence that spoke volumes across the internet. “It’s always super uncomfortable to me when Nicole doesn’t mention her adopted kids. ‘I’ve got two little girls.’ Eek,” a commenter wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another X user wrote, “I feel bad that Nicole Kidman didn’t mention her other two kids in her speech. It’s not their fault you adopted them w/ Tom Cruise.” It’s still unclear if Kidman meant any type of malice behind her Emmy speech, or if she was just caught in the moment. Whatever the case, a portion of the internet considers the snub another example of her sneaky but expert shading.
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