Golden Globes: Back Off Of Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Fans ~ She Quotes Bette Midler From “First Wive’s Club”

Tina Fey’s warning to Taylor Swift to “stay away” from Michael J. Fox’s son? That was a joke. Sacha Baron Cohen‘s takedown of Daniel Day-Lewis‘ beard-growing skills, also clearly a joke.

But the one ha-ha nobody seemed to get (at least not right away) at Sunday night’s 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards”¨ was the one made by “Silver Linings Playbook” star Jennifer Lawrence,”¨ Accepting the award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, the frequently irreverent actress marveled at her trophy and blurted, “I beat Meryl! That’s what it says!”

Some took the comment as a seeming dig at oft-nominated acting legend Meryl Streep, who was not in attendance, but was in the running for her role in “Hope Springs.” As you might expect, the Internet immediately ran hot with slams of the 22-year-old “Hunger Games” star, accusing her of disrespecting Streep, who has been nominated for 27 Globes over the years.

As it turns out, though, Lawrence was merely making a movie geek reference to the 1996 comedy “First Wives Club.” In that flick, Bette Midler‘s character tells Goldie Hawn, “Once you were a terrific actress. You even got an Oscar to prove it.” Midler touches the trophy in the scene and says to Hawn, “‘I beat Meryl.’ That’s what it says.”

Lawrence, a comedy movie geek, who told Vanity Fair in a recent cover story that she has seen “Dumb and Dumber” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” multiple times and recently logged her 50th viewing of “There’s Something About Mary,” wasn’t all jokes. She also offered heartfelt thanks to co-star Bradley Cooper, who she said, “make[s] me better every single day,” as well as her parents and brothers for supporting her.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without you being mean to me,” she said about her siblings to laughs from the room. “But then really supportive and loving. So thank you.”