Stephen Fry rants over backlash to his BAFTA 'bag lady' insult

BAFTA host Stephen Fry hit out at critics on Twitter who labelled his 'bag lady' call offensive. Photo / Getty

Stephen Fry has lashed out after being criticised for a quip he made about a BAFTA winner.

The 58-year-old star was blasted for making a joke about Jenny Beavan, who won the award for Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road at the ceremony in London on Monday (NZ time), looking like a "bag lady" but was quick to hit back.

He launched a furious tirade on Twitter in which he labelled his detractors "sanctimonious f***ers" and insisted that he was just joking with his friend.

Stephen tweeted: "So just a word to the tragic figures who think calling Jenny Bevan a bag lady was an insult. She's a dear friend and she got it. Derrr

"Will all you sanctimonious fu***** f*** the f*** off Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. Christ I want to leave the planet."

And going into more detail about their relationship, he also wrote: "we worked together on Gosford Park & Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. She's more grown up & strong than you are (sic)."

Meanwhile, The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road were the big winners at the 2016 BAFTAs.

Leonardo DiCaprio won the Leading Actor award for his role as legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass in the survival movie, while Alejandro G. Inarritu won Best Director and saw his movie also triumph in the Film, Sound and Cinematography categories.

Mad Max: Fury Road also won a number of awards, including Editing, Production Design, Costume Design and Make-up and Hair.

Along with Leonardo's win for Leading Actor, the acting categories also saw Brie Larson take home the Leading Actress award for Room with Kate Winslet picking up Best Supporting Actress for Steve Jobs and Mark Rylance taking home the Best Supporting Actor gong for Bridge of Spies.

- Bang! Showbiz