Sean Penn's Oscars joke about Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu falls flat

Sean Penn's joke about Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu at Sunday night's Oscars met with a rather frosty reception.

As Penn presented the best director award to his friend Inarritu, he quipped: "Who gave this son of a bitch a green card?"

Inarritu is Mexican.

Green Card holders are immigrants who have become permanent residents of the United States, allowing them the right to work in the country.

The joke fell painfully flat. Especially as Inarritu's acceptance speech was dedicated to his fellow Mexicans and the struggle they face both at home and in the US.

Sean Penn and Inarritu are friends

"I want to dedicate this award to my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico," he said, after coming on stage.

"I pray that we can build the government we can deserve.

"And the ones living in this country who are part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of the ones who came before and built this incredible immigrant nation."

Quotes from his speech were shared widely on social media as well as the accompanying disgust at Penn's joke.

Many were using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, used to highlight prejudice and lack of diversity in Hollywood.

However, Inarritu said backstage he found the joke "hilarious".

He has worked with Penn before in the film 21 Grams and the joke was said to be typical of their friendship, where they tease each other constantly.

Despite this, a pun on the Spanish slang for pubic hair and Sean Penn's name was trending briefly, showing that for a lot of people, this was a joke best kept between friends.

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