Now This Is How You Use The Cannes Red Carpet To Do Good

Salma Hayek used her time in the spotlight to raise awareness for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign - and then more celebs followed suit.

Bring Back Our Girls signs on the Cannes 2014 red carpet
Bring Back Our Girls signs on the Cannes 2014 red carpet
(Image credit: Rex)

Salma Hayek used her time in the spotlight to raise awareness for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign - and then more celebs followed suit.

Don't get us wrong: We've had our eyes glued to the Cannes Film Festival from day one, and we've been loving every second of it. But it is nice to see something other than beautiful people and couture dresses float down the red carpet for a change.

Salma Hayek used the very public Cannes red carpet as a platform to send a very serious message on Saturday. The actress - who's in Cannes promoting her film The Prophet - showed her support to the kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria by holding up a sign with the #BringBackOurGirls slogan on the red carpet.

She later spoke to the Telegraph about her decision. 'I've always been involved with the cause of fighting for women's rights and I took the opportunity because there were going to be so many photographers to exert pressure and remind them we want these girls back, they have to do something about it,' she said. 'Even though there is a film festival and I'm so honoured to be here and excited about my film, we don't want to forget about it for a minute.'

Bring Back Our Girls signs on the Cannes 2014 red carpet

Bring Back Our Girls signs on the Cannes 2014 red carpet
(Image credit: Rex)

It seems Salma got her message across because the next day the stars of The Expendables 4 followed her lead. Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Kelsey Grammer all held up the same sign at their film's premiere on Sunday.

It's now been more than a month since the 276 girls were captured, and they have yet to be rescued. But more and more notable figures are continuing to get involved in an effort to keep focus on the crisis.

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Ali Gray is an award-winning content director and digital strategist. Most recently she was the Director of Branded Content at Hearst, and helped to bridge the gap between the editorial and commercial worlds working across all Hearst brands, including ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Prior to that she worked as an editor contributing to several brands such as The Telegraph, iVillage UK.