Steven Spielberg's finally responded to Natalie Portman's iconic jab at the Globes.

“And here are the all male nominees.”

That two-word jab from Natalie Portman, as she presented the nominees for Best Director at the 75th annual Golden Globe awards, summed up what some might have missed amid the ‘reckoning’ of the Times Up movement.

The first glittery award ceremony for 2018 was a great one for women in movies and television.

But not, as Portman pointed out, for female directors.

The camera panned to the uncomfortable faces of the male directors nominated for their work on the night. Steven Spielberg was one of them.

Speaking exclusively to Entertainment Tonight, the award-winning director has responded to Portman’s choice of words, and it’s actually really great.

“There’s also a watershed happening right now, slowly, maybe not fast enough, for women directors,” the three-time Oscar winner said when asked how he felt about being one of the nominees in the all-male category.

“I mean you have Patty Jenkins. We have some amazing women that have come forward, you know Mudbound and Lady Bird. This is a pretty incredible year, and I think you’ll be seeing some nominations. I’m predicting at the Oscars this year for a woman director, if not several.”

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Spielberg responds to Natalie Portman’s Best Directors dig at the #GoldenGlobes. https://t.co/0g8SQ98Hic pic.twitter.com/ojM43Ck2cP

— EntertainmentTonight (@etnow) January 10, 2018

And at a time when it’s nearly impossible for a man in Hollywood to say the ‘right thing’, the award-winning director nailed it.

Wonder Woman director, Jenkins could be one of those female Best Director nominees. For her, the all male nominees comment solidified what she already knew about gender disparity among film directors.

“Look, it’s been a little glaring that women directors don’t get nominated so often and it is odd. Particularly when their films are being celebrated in every other way, so I thought it was interesting to highlight it,” she said.

“And what a difficult category to present without saying something about it, so she did it so perfectly… It made me laugh, and it made me smile.”

LISTEN: Should Oprah run for President? What is the Time’s Up movement actually about? You can hear all this and more on the latest episode of Mamamia Out Loud below…

There are two other female Best Director Oscar hopefuls alongside Jenkins – Dee Rees, whose Mudbound tackles racism in America’s south after WW2, and Lady Bird director, Grega Gerwig for her coming of age story.

A possible three out of five are good odds. Even one would be better than the none we’re accustomed to. Thankfully, the Globes showed us that the time is well and truly up on women remaining in the shadows while men take the spotlight.

It would appear Spielberg couldn’t agree more.