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Jeremy Renner responds to criticism over 'sexist' Jennifer Lopez comment at the Golden Globes

The star of The Hurt Locker presented the award for Best Actor in a mini-series or TV movie alongside the actress and singer

Monday 12 January 2015 12:40 GMT

Jennifer Lopez and Jeremy Renner. (Paul Drinkwater | NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Seemingly missing Ricky Gervais' cringeworthy moments of yesteryear, Jeremy Renner took on the mantle of "the night's most awkward comment" at this year's Golden Globes.

The star of The Hurt Locker and The Bourne Legacy presented the award for Best Actor in a mini-series or TV movie alongside Jennifer Lopez, whose revealing dress had already made headlines on television and Twitter earlier on the Red Carpet.

Renner asks Lopez to open the envelope to reveal the winner (which went to Billy Bob Thornton for Fargo) with Lopez responding, "You want me to do it? I have the nails."

Renner then glances down and quips, "You got the globes too", gesturing towards Lopez's deep V-neck dress.

Lopez takes the comment well, laughing and then simply shrugging the joke off. The audience reaction, however, is "majority groan".

Viewers instantly took to Twitter to criticise Renner's remark.

Golden Globes gaffes

Show all 10

1/10Golden Globes gaffes

Golden Globes gaffes

Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, 2014

Jonah Hill is one of the funniest men on the planet so it could have been worse when he came to the stage with Margot Robbie to find the wrong autocue in place…the rictus grins on both their faces speak volumes. And Robbie's shoulders shake with mirth even when they're handed a piece of paper with the right info on it.

Golden Globes gaffes

Jacqueline Bisset, 2014

During her acceptance speech last year not one sentence was structured in what might be understood as English. She thanked, cursed and ruminated about forgiveness. Did you get that? Nope, me neither.

Golden Globes gaffes

Diddy & Bono, 2014

I don't get why you wouldn’t want a bear hug from P Diddy but clearly Bono didn’t want to pucker up for some bromance. Bono actually swerves a considerable way back to avoid facial contact with the R&B legend.

Golden Globes gaffes

Jodie Foster, 2013

This incident is only awkward because Jodie Foster eclipsed every single person at that year’s ceremony with her brilliant 'coming out' speech. Not only did she win the Cecil B DeMille award for just generally being a big deal, but then she gave the most glorious soliloquy of her career, paying tribute to her then partner and BFF, Cydney Bernard. Spare a thought for the poor soul who had to follow that.

Getty Images

Golden Globes gaffes

Robert De Niro, 2011

Like the socially unacceptable granddad at the Christmas party, De Niro used his acceptance speech to make some light jokes about Hispanics being deported, as well as having a general pop at the Hollywood Foreign Press. Pay particular attention to the moment when Angelina Jolie’s does the 'oh my god!' face to Brad, once it becomes clear that De Niro has lost the plot.

Golden Globes gaffes

Ricky Gervais, 2011

When The Office creator took to the stage to compere the 2011 awards, it was even more awkward than watching David Brent…because it was real. Apart from poking fun at Charlie Sheen (who, let's face it, is a gold mine for gags), Gervais went to town on The Tourist. One joke? Funny. Two jokes? OK. More? Make it stop. Please.

AP

Golden Globes gaffes

Natalie Portman, 2011

The pregnant actress couldn't hold back the flood of emotion during her speech. Was she laughing or crying? Who cares, I'm crying.

Getty Images

Golden Globes gaffes

Christian Bale, 2011

I reckon being Batman must do things to you after a while - those nightly battles with the Penguin and Joker will send you over the edge. Bale gave a performance to remember when he picked up his globe and spent the next ten minutes thanking every Tom, Dick and Harry he could spot in the audience. Organisers eventually cut off Bale’s mic, presumably because they had homes to go to. Suffice to say, he wasn’t very happy about it.

Golden Globes gaffes

Elizabeth Taylor, 2001

Liz almost blew the suspense by trying to announce the winner of the 2001 Best Film before the nominees. It took about a minute for her (with the help of aides and audience participation) to realise that she should just read off the autocue and *then* open the envelope. The audience however lapped it up – proving that Hollywood legends can do no wrong.

Golden Globes gaffes

Christine Lahti, 1998

Imagine: you've been rehearsing your acceptance speech in the shower since you were ten. You've known what you were going to wear since forever and then when you finally win a Golden Globe…you're in the lav. It really is the stuff of nightmares. Fortunately Christine Lahti had Robin Williams on hand to awkwardly fill the space until she had, er, finished.

The ioke evidently didn't sit well on a night when the hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, made many references to Hollywood's "gender issues" ("Boyhood proves there are still great roles for women over 40, as long as you get hired when you're under 40".) Furthermore, Maggie Gyllenhaal used her acceptance speech to celebrate the wealth of "actual women" cast in roles on screen.

On Monday morning, Renner took to his own Twitter account to respond to the criticism, calling on people to not take his remark seriously and calling Lopez a "gem".

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