Jennifer Lawrence praises pal Amy Schumer for her mettle in standing up for causes she believes in amid ‘immense fire’
Jennifer Lawrence had words of praise for her friend Amy Schumer and her courage to face personal attacks on her activism.
“Amy’s choice to use her voice to speak for justice puts her under immense fire,” the 33-year-old Oscar-winning actress said. Variety as part of a profile on Schumer, 42.
Lawrence continued, “I wouldn’t say she’s navigating it as much as she’s throwing up her middle fingers and walking away from negative comments, like a gas station fire in a Michael Bay movie.”
The Silver Linings Playbook actress said she understands that women in show business are often closely scrutinized: “Right now, the expectation for scrutiny is so ingrained in my DNA that I wouldn’t know how to operate otherwise.”
Schumer told Variety about an instance in March in which she was verbally abused, months after voicing her support for Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on a music festival, which led to the ongoing heightened conflict in the Middle East.
Jennifer Lawrence, 33, had words of praise for her friend Amy Schumer, 42, and her courage in dealing with personal attacks for her activism. Pictured in Paris in February
Schumer said she was in Brooklyn, near the subway, shooting a movie called Kinda Pregnant when a passerby yelled at her, “F*** you, Amy Schumer!” You are a Zionist! You love genocide!’
The Trainwreck actress, who has disabled her social media comments in the past amid vitriolic comments, said she has gotten used to it at this point.
“It didn’t even increase my heart rate,” Schumer said of the on-set incident. ‘I didn’t cry. Nothing.’
Schumer said she “can’t help herself” from making comments that could stir controversy and backlash against her.
“A lot of people can do something about it, but I’ve never been able to do it,” she told the outlet. ‘But I also want to be helpful. Do you know what I mean?’
Speaking to Variety, Schumer said she found inconsistencies with the public’s perception of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“The focus is so razor-sharp on the Jewish people, but not on Hamas,” she said. ‘That’s very strange.
‘So I would recommend people read a book: Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby. Or whatever, Jewish people wrote everything down.”
Schumer and Lawrence posed for a selfie three years ago
Schumer and Lawrence posed for a photo at the Women’s March protest in Washington DC in October 2021
Schumer and Lawrence worked together as presenters at the 2016 Golden Globes in LA
Schumer, who appears in the upcoming Jerry Seinfeld-directed Netflix film Unfrosted, spoke about the ongoing social conflict arising from the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“It’s gotten to the point where you can’t stand up for other Jews without people feeling like it’s a slight to conditions in Gaza,” Schumer said.
Schumer said her support for Israel should not be confused with support for their government leaders.
‘I don’t agree with anything [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu does that, and neither do the Israelis I know,” Schumer said. “What is happening in Gaza is of course sickening, horrific and unthinkable. And I don’t think it’s okay to hate someone because he or she was born Jewish.”
In the interview, Schumer also said that it was unlikely that a long-term comedy project she had with Lawrence, in which they would play siblings, would become a reality.
“I don’t think it will ever happen,” she said. ‘It was just like life went on. My family was going through a difficult time. That’s all I want to say.’
She added: “The way we hope our careers will go, maybe we can do something with more guts and teeth.”
Lawrence told Variety that she felt like the moment had passed for the aforementioned project: “Now that we’re older, a sister comedy might not resonate as much. But we intend to work together.”