golden globes 2019

Emma Stone Is ‘Sorry!’ for Aloha

Emma Stone. Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock

During her opening performance with co-host Andy Samberg at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, host Sandra Oh took aim at whitewashing in Hollywood, joking that Crazy Rich Asians “is the first studio film with an Asian-American lead since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha.”

“I’m sorry!” Stone cried out as the audience laughed, an apology Oh acknowledged by briefly and graciously folding her hands over heart. (The camera was not on Stone at the time, but she later confirmed her yelled apology to the Los Angeles Times, saying, “It wasn’t like I planned it, but I did say it.”)

This is not the first time Stone has apologized for her role in Aloha, the 2015 romantic comedy in which she played Allison Ng, a woman of Hawaiian and Chinese heritage.

“I’ve become the butt of many jokes,” she told Australian news outlet news.com.au that year. “I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.”

The film’s director, Cameron Crowe, also apologized for casting Stone, writing in a 2015 blog post, “I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heartfelt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice.”

Stone is attending the Golden Globes as a nominee for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Favourite. Johansson, who is not at the Golden Globes this year, did not, as far as we know, shout an apology for her role in The Ghost in the Shell, in which she played a cyborg named Major Motoko Kusanagi.

Emma Stone Yells ‘Sorry!’ During Sandra Oh’s Speech