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Celebrities Need To Stop Making Their Acceptance Speeches Political

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It’s a tale as old as time – rich and famous celebrities using their awards show acceptance speeches to attack the government/speak out about world issues. It’s awkward, no one cares, and it drags the shows out longer than they already are. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to disagree with what Ricky Gervais said in his opening monologue last night:

“If you win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”

FINALLY someone had the balls to say what 99% of award show watchers have been thinking. And this isn’t to say that I don’t agree/disagree with what they’re saying up there – it really doesn’t matter. I could be the most die-hard supporter of an issue, but if it gets brought up during an acceptance speech, I still get a shivering cringe down my spine…because it’s not the time and place.

  1. Most people tune out at the first utterance of politics being brought up. I was watching the Globes with a big group of people last night, from all sides of the political spectrum, and when Patricia Arquette started getting political there was a collective groan throughout the house followed by people going to the kitchen to re-fill their plates with food. No one wants to hear that stuff.
  2. For those that do listen, there is now a political debate in the middle of a nice evening. We all have that friend, uncle, cousin, etc. who LOVES to get political and trigger the rest of the group. These celebrities have no idea how many pots they’re stirring across America when they decide to go off on some political rant. Did no one raise these people to know you don’t discuss sex, religion, or politics at a party? Animals.
  3. I now just assume they’re psycho. Would you rather hang out with the person at the party that talks about a possible war in the Middle East or the person that thanks their agent and family and heads backstage? If you want to leave a lasting impression, make a joke, thank a few people, get off the stage, and go get involved in an organization that supports whatever you stand for and post about it on Instagram. And being cool onstage makes me actually want to watch whatever you won for…isn’t that the point?? I had never even heard of the show Ramy until last night, but because Ramy Youssef was so charming during his speech, I watched an episode and loved it! Am I ever going to watch whatever TV show Patricia Arquette won for? Most likely, probably, definitely not.

The only thing I should be upset about after the Golden Globes is that Taron Egerton won Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy over LDC and Eddie Murphy, not that we had to sit through more political rants. This is where we go to get away from the real world for a few hours on a Sunday night before the work/school grind hits us like a ton of bricks on Monday morning. You would think Gervais’s monologue would’ve gotten through to some of these people.

See below for the full monologue:

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