During the 71st EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, Feb. 18, Jennifer Lawrence was introduced by British actress and "Ab Fab" star Joanna Lumley, who made her hosting debut.
The 71 year old introduced Lawrence before she presented the award for Outstanding British Film, telling the audience, "And we start with the award for Outstanding British Film and who better to kick the whole evening off than the hottest actress on the planet? Soon to be seen in 'Red Sparrow,' it's the ravishing Jennifer Lawrence."
The 27-year-old Oscar winner walked on stage and said to Lumley, "Hi. That was a bit much, but thank you, Joanna."
Twitter quickly attacked the American actress, criticizing her for being "rude" and a "stuck up brat" to the host, who took over for Stephen Fry, who had hosted the last 12 shows.
She responded to those attacks during a discussion with Ronan Keating on the "Magic Breakfast" radio show on Feb. 19, the morning after the award show.
"Everybody thought that I was being rude. But to be fair, I couldn't have just walked out after she was like, 'biggest movie star in the world!'" she explained, going on to make a reference to the movie "Mean Girls." "And if I'd just walked out and gone, 'Thank you, Joanna.' It would have been like, 'So you agree? You think you're really pretty?'"
Lawrence also said that the moment between them was an inside joke.
"She went on and said all these really nice things about me and then when I got up to the podium, I was like, Tthat was a bit much,'" she explained. "After I just spent all backstage telling her how to be really nice to me. I wasn't being rude, it was an inside joke."