James Cameron Slams Amy Poehler’s 2013 Golden Globes Joke, Calling It an “Ignorant Dig”
James Cameron is revisiting a moment from more than a decade ago — and he isn’t laughing.
The Avatar: Fire & Ash filmmaker has spoken out about Amy Poehler’s 2013 Golden Globes joke regarding his marriage to Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, calling the remark “ignorant” and saying it crossed a line.
Cameron Finally Responds to the 2013 Joke
At the 2013 Golden Globes, hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey delivered a series of sharp one-liners, including one aimed at Bigelow’s gritty film Zero Dark Thirty.
Poehler joked that the film’s intense interrogation scenes were “what it must be like to be married to James Cameron,” prompting laughs from the audience — but not from the director himself.
Twelve years later, Cameron has now addressed the joke publicly, saying “that went too far.” According to him, the joke wasn’t just tasteless — it was personal.

Cameron said the line felt like an “ignorant dig” that had little to do with filmmaking and everything to do with mocking a former relationship. Cameron and Bigelow were married from 1989 to 1991, and despite their brief marriage, the two have long supported each other professionally. Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director at the Oscars in 2010, beating Cameron’s Avatar.
Hollywood Has a Long Memory for Celebrity “Digs”
Cameron’s comments surfaced in a broader conversation about celebrity feuds and public jabs that take on a life of their own — a familiar pattern in pop culture.
One example was JoJo Siwa’s viral 2022 TikTok, in which she named Candace Cameron Bure as the “rudest” celebrity she had met. Siwa later explained she had felt hurt as a child when Bure declined a photo. The two resolved the incident — but tension resurfaced after Bure said her network would focus on “traditional marriage,” a comment JoJo slammed as “rude and hurtful to a whole community.”

Similarly, longtime Sex and the City fans recall the years-long tension between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, which resurfaced in 2017 when Cattrall said the two were “never friends.” Parker described feeling “heartbroken”, pointing to the years they spent working together and the emotional weight of a shared cultural legacy.
Cameron Says Some Jokes Shouldn’t Be Fair Game
For Cameron, the issue isn’t about being unable to take a joke — it’s about the line between comedy and personal disrespect.
He clarified that he and Bigelow maintain respect for each other’s work, and the joke felt like an unnecessary attack on something private. “Comedy can be sharp,” Cameron said, “but it shouldn’t be ignorant.”
While the filmmaker has weathered decades of criticism, he noted that cheap personal shots — especially about relationships — don’t sit the same way as jabs about movies or box office numbers.
As Cameron’s Avatar: Fire & Ash continues its global release, his latest remarks show he’s not afraid to revisit Hollywood’s past — especially moments he feels deserve a second look. For more entertainment updates and Hollywood insights, continue reading on InvestRecords.com.