“Modern Family” actress Sofia Vergara defended the Primetime Emmy Awards after the ceremony generated backlash over a segment that featured Vergara standing on a turntable and vamping. TVLine reports that the segment came under fire from viewers who considered it sexist.
Vergara appeared in the segment “to ostensibly illustrate Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chairman Bruce Rosenblum’s speech about how TV is ‘always giving the viewer something compelling to watch,’” the story notes.
Her vamping provided a contrast to Rosenblum’s “dry speech,” the report adds. When she stepped off the turntable, she said, “That’s why I stopped doing the car shows!,” pretending to be dizzy.
The segment earned thumbs down from Time.com and Jezebel, with the latter writing that Vergara “was treated like a literal object.” It added, “We have now entered the unfunny, sexist part of the program.”
Vergara was “visibly irritated” by the criticism, TVLine notes. In the press room, she responded, “I think it’s absolutely the opposite. … I absolutely think it’s ridiculous.”
She said her role in the segment illustrated that “somebody can be hot and be funny and make fun of herself.”
Sofia Vergara
Sofia Vegara knows what her brand is, and what her comedy is. She is literally on a show, where she is upending the stereotype of a trophy wife. If she looked like say Rachel Dratch, another amazing comedienne, but one who NBC wouldn’t let star in the Jane Krakowski role on 30 Rock because of her looks, would anyone even be writing about this. She is one of the highest paid actresses on TV right now. I think that it’s insulting when people respond like this, because it makes it seem like since she’s beautiful, she was some mindless pawn in some man’s scheme to oogle her goodies. That is sexist. She’s a business woman, a part of the academy, a comedienne, and millions of people who might not watch her show watch the Emmys.