The inexplicable PR debacle known as Anne Hathaway

“She annoys me because there’s just something off about her face, like the left side of it is slowly sliding off her skull and she’s using Scotch tape to hold it up … She’s just not attractive at all and I’m kind of tired of people pretending she is, I guess that’s what it is.”

Before you scream sexism or misogyny, a New York magazine story this week points out that women constitute the majority of the Hathaway haters. PR executive Dorothy Crenshaw says she admires some of Hathaway’s performances, but thinks there something insincere about her behavior. “Perhaps it’s just her too-perfect appearance and recent success, or maybe the mock surprise as she has won each recent award,” Crenshaw says, “but for me it actually dates back to her former fiancé.” That former fiancé is Raffaello Follieri, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. He was imprisoned and later deported. Hathaway and Follieri dated from 2004 to 2008. Crenshaw continued: “They were together for several years, but after he was arrested, she dropped him within 10 minutes and seemed to pretend the relationship never happened. It’s not that I think he deserved loyalty, but it makes me wonder about her judgment, and she seemed to move on too quickly.” In an essay for The Huffington Post, novelist Douglas Anthony Cooper suggests the reason people dislike Hathaway, but adore Jennifer Lawrence, is because we’re living in the “Age of Unpolished.” Hathaway, Cooper argues, is reminiscent of Judy Garland’s peppy onstage persona—without the pep pills she was popping backstage. To be adored, you have to be real, and Hathaway just doesn’t seem real enough. “I suppose this is just the Age of Unpolished,” he writes. “Don’t get me wrong—I really do admire Jennifer Lawrence—but not everybody has to faceplant on the way to the microphone.” Her PR prowess Despite the negative headlines, Hathaway has shown she’s savvy in the PR realm. Whether or not it’s for the publicity, she’s a spokesperson for Eve Ensler’s anti-violence organization, One Billion Rising. And in December, she appeared on the “Today” show, on which Matt Lauer asked about an unfortunate incident in which a paparazzo got a picture of her crotch. “Seen a lot of you lately,” Lauer remarked snidely. Hathaway fielded the subsequent question with aplomb.