At Sunday night's Laurence Olivier Awards, actress Hannah Waddingham—who was hosting the awards ceremony for the second year in a row—was taken aback as she prepared to walk the red carpet. While posing for photos outside of Royal Albert Hall, a member of the paparazzi made a request for Waddingham to show more leg in her custom Marchesa dress (which featured a thigh-high slit). Waddingham was having none of it, per a video shared by X user @odeiotedlasso. (The video currently has 1.6 million views and counting.)
“Oh, my God,” Waddingham replied, visibly shocked. “You’d never say that to a man, my friend.”
But Waddingham, per Entertainment Weekly, didn’t stop there. Though the paparazzo’s specific request is inaudible, we can deduce what it was based off of Waddingham’s stunned reaction: dressing down the photographer, the Ted Lasso star told him “Don’t be a dick, otherwise I’ll move off. Don’t say ‘Show me leg.’ No.” Per the outlet, “The crowd cheered her on as she walked away.”
Her coup de grâce as she walked inside Royal Albert Hall was reminding the photographer to “have some manners,” Page Six reports.
Thankfully, as Entertainment Weekly put it, “Waddingham’s night only got better from there.” The awards ceremony honors the best of London theater, and Waddingham opened the show with a performance of “Anything Goes” to massive applause before kicking off her hosting duties.
And Waddingham is no stranger to standing up for herself on the red carpet. Lest we forget, while attending the Emmys earlier this year, she quickly corrected Live from E! Countdown to the Emmys host Laverne Cox after she accidentally introduced her as “Hannah Waddington.”
“Waddingham,” the actress said with a smile. “Let’s get that right, straight away.”
