This year, Cannes organizers hope stars will skip the selfies

Jon Hamm takes a selfie with his wax figure.
(Image credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Don’t expect to see many many selfies from your favorite stars at Cannes — the international film festival is requesting that attendees refrain from snapping away on the red carpet.

Organizers say that taking selfies slows people down, making it difficult to climb up the Palais stairs and make it to premieres on time. "In order to make it all work smoothly, we cannot accept people blocking the ceremony for their own purposes," director of communications Marie-Pierre Haivulle told USA Today. There won’t be any security stopping people from taking selfies, though, since "these are things we cannot control. We are asking people to be respectful."

Festival director Thierry Frémaux didn't mince words when he was asked about selfies, calling them "ridiculous" and "grotesque" and adding, "you never look as ugly as you do in a selfie."

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.