How Anne Hathaway outsmarted the Hathahaters and had the last laugh

As Anne Hathaway addresses the extreme public loathing she endured a decade ago, Christobel Hastings re-examines the rise and fall of Hathahate – and how one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars outsmarted the sexist script.

It was February 2013, and at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, Anne Hathaway had just scooped the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The win, by all accounts, was no great surprise: throughout the awards season that year, the actor had racked up trophies at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Baftas for her compelling portrayal of the doomed Fantine in the big screen adaptation of Les Misérables. Standing on stage at the most prestigious film awards in the world, Hathaway was about to experience a moment most actors dream of. Hollywood’s biggest night belonged to her.

Except when Hathaway took the mic to deliver her acceptance speech, everything unravelled. As she cradled her golden statue and whispered, “It came true!”, the internet unleashed a tidal wave of vitriol. People mocked the darts on her powder pink Prada gown; her doe eyes and too-perfect mouth; her awed, overeager voice. Then there was the speech itself, which was branded rehearsed, calculated and disingenuous. There was no doubt about it: the Oscar-night darling was now public enemy number one. 

After the 2013 awards season, the hatred heaped upon the actor became a big topic of conversation. Alongside the everyday cyberbullying, an abundance of think pieces attempted to compile evidence of Hathaway’s most annoying qualities, from her earnest demeanour to her joyful exuberance. “She’s got this theatre kid thing where she adopts the mood of every situation she’s in […] but wildly overcompensates every time,” said critic Richard Lawson. “She always seems like she’s performing, and her favourite act is this overstated humility and graciousness.” In a bizarre scientific analysis, psychology professor Terry Pettijohn argued that Hathaway’s “mature face” was more suited to a challenging climate. “When times are good we prefer actresses with rounder faces,” he explained. So zealous was the public loathing that a new word – Hathahate – was created just to describe the movement.

Read the full feature here.