May 19

May 19 "This World is Bullsh**": Iconic Acceptance Speeches from the Analog Era

Fiona Apple’s highly acclaimed new album is a continuation of the subversive, enigmatic work that has shaped her entire career. Her first album, Tidal, thrust her into the mainstream in 1996 and she grappled with the implications of her success in an industry she found deeply problematic. She famously expressed her disdain at the VMAs when honored for her music.

When awards season rolls around, the variety of political, wacky, and emotional acceptance speeches are always something to look forward to. Between Jennifer Lawrence’s “quirky” fall up the stairs at the Oscars, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s impromptu poetry at the Tonys, and the intensely political bent of the last half decade of awards shows, acceptance speeches have remained a viral fixture in pop culture. But before Twitter’s inception, these speeches were immortalized in awards show history:

Fiona Apple at the VMAs (1997)

At the 1997 Video Music Awards, Fiona Apple took home the prize for Best New Artist in a Video for Criminal, and stirred controversy when she slammed the very establishment “legitimizing” her work. To the predominantly teen viewers of MTV, she proclaimed:

“See, Maya Angelou said that we as human beings at our best can only create opportunities, and I’m going to use this opportunity the way that I want to use it. So what I want to say is, everybody out there that’s watching this world? This world is bullshit. You shouldn’t model your life about what you think we think is cool and what we’re wearing and what we’re saying and everything. Go with yourself.”

Watch the whole speech:

Julie Andrews at the Golden Globes (1965)

In under a minute, Julie Andrews ended Jack Warner’s entire career. Context: Andrews famously originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on Broadway, but in an attempt to maximize box office success, the role went to superstar Audrey Hepburn when Warner Bros. adapted the play. Andrews was then free to star in a little film called Mary Poppins, a role for which she won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Actress over Hepburn. In a perfectly demure “f-you,” she thanked Jack Warner for making her wins possible. Iconic.

ODB at the Grammys (1998)

Before Kanye, ODB was the original podium crasher. When Shawn Colvin went to accept her award for Song of the Year, ODB snuck on stage, kissed presenter Erykah Badu, and went off on the Wu-Tang Clan’s loss of Best Rap Album to Puff Daddy earlier in the evening. He was especially put out by the fact that he had bought an expensive outfit for the occasion! In explaining why they should have won, ODB spoke the immortal phrase “Wu-Tang is for the children.”

Sally Field at the Oscars (1985)

Apple’s polar opposite, Sally Field’s Best Actress acceptance speech for Places in the Heart was aggressively sweet and endlessly mockable. It was her second Oscar—which she casually informs us of—but to her, the first that she “really felt.” Quoted to death, this speech went word-of-mouth viral.

Marlon Brando (in absentia) at the Oscars (1973)

The tidal wave of political speech at awards shows are all indebted to Marlon Brando’s choice to reject his Best Actor award for The Godfather. He boycotted the show, sending Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place to blast the government’s refusal to honor treaties and the stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans in the media.

Halle Berry at the Oscars (2001)

Brando may have set the stage, but Halle Berry was the blueprint for the 21st century acceptance speech. When she became the first black woman to ever win Best Actress for her performance in Monster Ball, in an oft-imitated move she credited her peers and those who paved the way:

“This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”

Meryl Streep at the Emmys (2004)

Meryl Streep is a veritable pro at acceptance speeches, something that must naturally follow being such a pro at winning things. Her Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie award for Angels in America gave us this gem: “You know there are some days when I myself think I'm overrated…but not today.”

Alan Alda at the Emmys (1979)

Sure, it was fun watching Roberto Benigni jump over seats and Cuba Gooding Jr.’s excited dance when they received their respective Oscars, but they simply learned from the best. When winning one of his six Emmys for the world-changing show M*A*S*H, Alan Alda did an impressive cartweel on his way to the podium.