Jodie Foster hit by backlash after calling Gen Z ‘really annoying in the workplace’ as she’s slammed for using ‘divisive, tired and bizarre rhetoric’:  ‘Criticising an entire generation reveals more about yourself’

Jodie Foster has been hit by a wave of backlash for her comments on Generation Z, insisting they are work-shy and ‘annoying’.

The actress, 61, who is known for mentoring rising stars in the movie industry, said working with young actors is sometimes frustrating. 

Speaking to The Guardian, she said: ‘They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace.

‘They’re like, “Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10:30 a.m.” Or in emails, I’ll tell them, “This is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling?” And they’re like, “Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?”‘

When asked what she thought young actors needed to know, Jodie added: ‘They need to learn how to relax, how to not think about it so much, how to come up with something that’s theirs.

‘I can help them find that, which is so much more fun than being, with all the pressure behind it, the protagonist of the story.’ 

But people were not impressed by her comments, accusing Jodie of being ‘divisive’ for claiming the attitudes of a single age group are ‘unanimous’ and pointing out that history has seen many generations criticise the one that came after.

Many also argued that older generations have a tendency to slam younger people while not taking accountability for their own roles in creating the present day society that Gen Z grew up in.

One person tweeted: ‘Criticizing an entire generation reveals more about yourself than the actual said generation.’

While a second added: ‘Jodie Foster s****ing on Gen Z is so very boring. Surely every single generation, as they hit late teens / early 20s was criticised for the same sorts of things? And it’s so convenient that we forget exactly how arrogant / lazy / ridiculous we were in our youth’.

A third echoed: ‘Oh, she forgot her parents generation dumping on hers. And the generation before that dumping on theirs. It’s always been that the “adults” blame the kids for society while not taking responsibility for the society they were in charge of. Miss me with that’.

While another person wrote: ‘??? Why does Jodie Foster compare typical Gen Zers to the worst young actors in Hollywood who don’t live in the real America and are total trust fund brats. What planet does she live on if she thinks her Bel Air type Hollywood is reality?’

Someone else penned: ‘My Gen Z employees are at work on time and deliver on their tasks and objectives. Maybe Jodie’s just a bad boss and can’t communicate what someone’s roles, responsibilities and objectives are for the workday. Bad management always blames everyone but themselves for issues in the workplace.’

While a sixth said: ‘If I were an A-list actor (and a good one too) I’d like to think I wouldn’t waste my time dissing a whole generation just to praise 1 individual. Quite bizarre.’

A seventh commented: ‘Old people complaining about young people, nothing new’ while an eighth agreed, saying: ‘Reads like someone from the Silent Generation describing hippies in the 60s.’

Another fumed: ‘Another old f**k giving opinions about the younger generation as if we all attended the same meeting and unanimously decided how to act. I’m sick of this rhetoric. It’s as boring and tired as Jodie Foster’s performance in Elysium.’

A tenth said: ‘Ah the boomers moaning about laziness and can’t stand the idea that this gen are way ahead in their attitudes towards work and giving away too much of themselves.’

And another added: ‘“Generations” is a false construct. There is endless human variation in every age group. Divisive silliness’.

However, there was also some support for Jodie’s comments, with some social media users stating the star was correct in her opinion on Gen Z.

One person wrote: ‘I didn’t think it was possible for me to love Jodie Foster more but, apparently, it can be.’

Another added: ‘Nothing but respect for my Queen’, while a third agreed, writing: ‘Told no lies’.

Someone else gushed: ‘truer words were never spoken. we love you Jodie Foster’ while a fifth echoed: ‘she’s not wrong’.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jodie spoke about her admiration for fellow actress Bella Ramsey, 20.

She recalled asking the nonbinary star, to introduce her at the Elle Magazine Women in Hollywood celebration last month.

She explained: ‘I reached out to Bella, because we’d never met,’ telling her: ‘I want you to introduce me at this thing’.

Jodie described the gathering as ‘a wonderful event about actors and people in the movies, but is also very much a fashion thing. Which means it’s determining who represents us.’

For the event, Bella turned up in a charcoal double breasted suit with a blue and white button down and black shoes and no makeup.

Jodie praised the Game of Thrones star as a ‘vector of authenticity’ while the rest of the crowd were ‘wearing heels and eyelashes.’

The mother of two sons, whom she shares with former partner Cydney Bernard, and co-parents with her wife Alexandra Hedison, also revealed she’s had to deal with gender stereotypes in her own family. 

‘There was a moment with my older one when he was in high school, when, because he was raised by two women — three women — it was like he was trying to figure out what it was to be a boy,’ she said.

She explained the then-teen turned to the media to get some ideas, saying: ‘He watched television and came to the conclusion, “Oh, I just need to be an a**hole. I understand. I need to be sh**ty to women and act like I’m a f***er.”‘

‘And I was like, “No. That’s not what it is to be a man! That’s what our culture has been selling you for all this time”.’