The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony kicked off with a stream of political jabs and statements where Joaquin Phoenix ranted about animal rights, Brad Pitt slammed the impeachment trial, and a documentary director quoted Karl Marx.
Phoenix won the coveted Oscar award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Joker and launched a passionate speech animal rights and Speciesism, the idea that human superiority leads to the exploitation of animals.
‘I’ve been thinking a lot about some of these distressing issues we’ve been facing collectively… We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender, or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity,’ Phoenix said in his long-winded speech.
‘We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.’
Joaquin Phoenix launched an impassioned speech about animal rights after he accepted his Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Joker
‘We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal,’ Phoenix said in his lengthy speech
‘And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think we have to sacrifice something to give something up, but human beings at our best are so inventive and creative and ingenious and I think when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment,’ he added as the crowd erupted in raucous applause.
Phoenix is notorious for his environment activism and is an outspoken advocate for the vegan diet.
On Sunday Phoenix took to the red carpet in a Stella McCartney suit he’s been wearing all season long, advocating for minimal waste.
The 45-year-old actor concluded his speech with a quote by his late brother River Phoenix saying: ‘When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, ‘Run to the rescue with love—and peace will follow.’
While the audience at the Oscars applauded Joaquin, some Twitters users were left confused by his message.
Twitter reactions poured in after Joaquin’s passionate speech advocating for animal rights and against Speciesism
As actor Brad Pitt took to the Oscars stage after winning best supporting actor for his performance in Once Upon a Time ….In Hollywood on Sunday night, he joked that short allotted speech time was ‘more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week’.
‘They told me I have 45 seconds to speak, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week. Maybe Quentin will make a movie about it and in the end the adults will do the right thing,’ Pitt joked as the star-studded crowd laughed.
It was a poignant jab at Republican senators who voted against calling former National Security Adviser John Bolton along with others witnesses to testify at Trump’s impeachment trial.
But not everyone was a fan of Pitt’s political statement.
‘I was a fan of Brad Pitt. Not anymore. Brad we don’t need another Hollywood insider giving us his Democrat opinion. Take your trophy and go home,’ one Twitter user said.
‘$20 down that brad pitt didn’t even know who John Bolton was before this week,’ another user added.
‘Nobody gives a damn about what Brad Pitt thinks,’ another added.
Brad Pitt won the Oscar for best supporting actor Sunday night and opened his acceptance speech with a political joke saying, ‘They told me I have 45 seconds to speak, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week’
It was a poignant jab at Republican senators who voted against calling former National Security Adviser John Bolton (above) along with others to stand as witnesses at Trump’s impeachment trial
But some were in favor of his statement saying, ‘Brad Pitt didn’t have to do that. He gave the middle finger to many Trumpers who watch his movies because he is for real and will speak the truth and knows what we saw in that Senate was complete BS and so damaging to the country. Bravo. We need more of that. Stand up.’
When asked why he got political, Pitt said: ‘I was really disappointed with this week… I don’t think we should let it slide and I’m very serious about that.’
Hollywood’s most iconic award show of the year kicked off on a political note with singer Janelle Monae performing an elaborate number to her song Come Alive.
This is the second year in a row that the ceremony at the Dolby Theater took off without a host.
At the end she said: ‘I’m so proud to be standing here as a black queer artist telling stories. Happy Black History Month.’
The film Hair Love won the Oscar for best animated short film and creators Matthew Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver advocated for the Crown Act, a California law that prohibits discrimination based on hair style or texture, as they accepted their awards.
Hollywood’s most important award show of the year kicked off on a powerful note with singer Janelle Monae performing an elaborate number to her song Come Alive and saying: ‘I’m so proud to be standing here as a black queer artist telling stories. Happy Black History Month’
Cherry, a former NFL player who is also the second professional athlete to win an Oscar, dedicated the award to Kobe Bryant who was the first athlete to win the golden award last year for his film Dear Basketball.
‘Hair Love was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation and we wanted to normalize black hair,’ Cherry said as the audience cheered.
‘There’s a very important issue that’s out there, the Crown Act, and if we can help to get this passed in all 50 states it will help stories like Deandre Arnold, who is our special guest tonight, stop to happen,’ he added.
Deandre Arnold is the Texas high school student who was told he couldn’t attend graduation unless he cut off his dreadlocks, sparking national outrage.
‘It means the world to us to have him here with us,’ Cherry said on the red carpet. ‘We wanted people to see how good of a kid he is, but also there’s no reason people should be policing our hair.’
Hair Love creators Karen Rupert Toliver and Matthew A. Cherry won the Oscar for best animated short and advocated for the Crown Act in their acceptance speech, a bill that prohibits discrimination based on hair style or texture
Former NFL player and filmmaker Matthew Cherry (far left) and Karen Rupert Toliver (far right) brought Texas teen Deandre Arnold (center in green suit) as their guest to the Oscars. The teen was told by his high school that he could not graduate if he did not cut off his dreadlocks
Cherry shared this on Twitter after his Oscar win on Sunday, showing his 2016 post where he said he had an ‘Oscar worthy short film idea’
The best documentary award went to American Factory and co-director Julia Reichert gave Karl Marx a shout out during her acceptance speech by quoting The Communist Manifesto.
‘Our film is from Ohio and China, but it really could be from anywhere that people put on a uniform, punch a clock, trying to make a better life,’ she said.
‘Working people have it harder and harder these days — and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite,’ Reichert added.
Her quote is from the last lines of the political manifesto published in 1848.
American Factory is a documentary produced by former President Barack Obama’s new film company Higher Grounds Productions and tells the story of a Chinese company occupying a closed down General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio.
The best documentary award went to American Factory and co-director Julia Reichert (left in white) gave Karl Marx a shout out during her acceptance speech by quoting The Communist Manifesto saying, ‘we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite’
Rampant throughout the night were jokes and jabs at the Academy for failing to nominate more female directors for the Best Director Award, despite a slew of acclaimed films led by women this year.
Natalie Portman made a fashion statement wearing a Dior cape with the names of female directors whose movies were overlooked this year, including Little Women director Greta Gerwig.
‘I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work, in my subtle way,’ Portman said to the LA Times.
‘I thought there was something missing this year from the best director category, Steve Martin joked at the start of the show. ‘Vaginas?’ Chris Rock replied.
Natalie Portman made a fashion statement wearing a Dior cape with the names of female directors whose movies were overlooked this year, including Little Women director Greta Gerwig