Egyptian reporter’s DiCaprio gaffe sparks online ridicule

An Egyptian reporter fell foul of social media mockery after stumbling through a question she asked Leonardo DiCaprio about how he felt on winning his first Oscar at the awards show on Sunday night.

Despite her best efforts to get her ill-prepared question across, the Egyptian journalist’s strong accent and limited handling of the English language simply exposed her to ridicule.

It is hard to know what really happened in that room, but many are suggesting that her nerves might have got the better of her, or maybe she was just ill-prepared.

The reporter, who works for the privately-owned Youm 7 online newspaper, attempted to ask the U.S. actor how he felt about winning the “Best Actor” award for the first time after much anticipation.

“What about the first Oscar for you?” she asked DiCaprio, to which he replied, “what about it?”

She then said in elaboration: “…the first Oscar for you…”

“It feels amazing!” he answered with a quirky smile.

The audience at the press conference broke into laughter following the question.

Many in the Arab world took to social media to poke fun at her accent and even began creating internet memes, exposing her to even further ridicule.

Others, in defense, said while it was okay for the reporter who wasn’t a native English speaker to stumble, saying the real problem lay in her lack of preparation.

Check out the video, and read some of the social media responses below.