Kirsten Dunst has called out an "ignorant" tweet by news agency Reuters which described the actress as "best known for her role as Spider-Man's girlfriend".
The controversial post, which has since been deleted, included video footage of Dunst's recent Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony alongside the caption: "Kirsten Dunst, best known for her role as Spiderman’s girlfriend, receives a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame".
Understandably, fans were quick to defend the actress with a number calling out the media outlet for its sexist interpretation of her 30-year career on screen.
During a recent interview on US chat show The Talk, Dunst weighed in on the debate.
"Well you know… I don’t really look at Twitter and stuff, so I’m not really a social media girl," she admitted. "But I was looking for the show and everything, and it felt like, you know, I read it too and was like ‘Yeah, that’s pretty s****y."
"So I was proud that my fans and everyone rallied around and supported me. It was a very ignorant tweet, and it was probably done very carelessly by a man."
The 37-year-old famously played Mary Jane Watson in three Spiderman instalments between 2002 and 2007 but has also earned recognition in a number of famous flicks.
At the tender age of 12, the actress made her foray into the industry as Claudia in Interview with the Vampire in 1994 for which she was nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress.
The new mother has since taken on multiple lead roles in the likes of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and Lars von Trier's Melancholia - which saw her win Best Actress at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Although it's not the first time Dunst has had to defend her career, as the Hollywood heavyweight admitted that she has "never felt recognised" by the film industry last month.
Speaking on Sirius XM’s In-Depth With Larry Flick, Dunst said: "I've never been nominated for anything. Maybe like, twice for a Golden Globe when I was little and one for Fargo."
"I always feel like nobody - I don't know, maybe they just think I'm the girl from Bring It On.
The actress then went on to point out that a number of her silver screen ventures are only recognised once time has passed.
"Well, remember when Marie Antoinette - y'all panned it? And now you all love it," Dunst explained. "Remember Drop Dead Gorgeous? Panned. Now you all love it. It's, like, interesting for me."
"I feel a lot of things I do people like later," she added. "I've never been recognised in my industry."
