During last night’s London premiere of new movie Suffragettes, actresses paraded the red carpet in beautiful gowns, photographers snapped their pictures, and producers and crew took to the stage to celebrate their work. Actress Carey Mulligan made a ‘triumphant’ return after giving birth in a frothy grey Chanel Couture gown.
But just metres away, Suffragettes had decided to invade the Suffragette premiere.
Protestors from group Sisters Uncut organised a stand off at the premiere to protest the UK’s recent cuts to domestic violence victim support, and they weren’t shy about it. Letting of bright smoke bombs and carrying signs emblazoned with phrases like, ‘Dead women can’t vote’, and ‘Cuts kill’, the protestors also staged a ‘lie in’ on the middle of the red carpet wearing jumpsuits with ‘Sisters Uncut’ written on them.
In response to the protests, actresses Carey Mulligan, Romola Garai and Helena Bonham Carter all agreed that it was the “perfect response” to the movie’s message and that they were glad the movement was “alive and well”.
The Suffragettes cast also recently came under fire for appearing on the cover of Time Out magazine wearing tshirts with a quote from famous Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst (played by Meryl Streep): “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave”. The covers have been labelled as insensitive, with many followers pointing out that those that lived under the slavery laws didn’t have a choice between rebellion or slavery.
The protesters let off green and purple smoke bombs at the event last night.
Carrying signs that said ‘Dead women can’t vote’ and ‘Cuts kill’, the protesters chanted ‘We are suffragettes’.
The protesters also wore badges with the original Suffragettes sign.
The premiere was held in London’s Leicester Square.
Several hundred people were in attendance.
Several of the protesters also staged a lie in on the red carpet.
Actresses Romola Garai, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ann-Marie Duff and Carey Mulligan were in attendance.
