Politics At The Oscars: Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix Make A Statement

There were a few political moments at the Academy Awards this year, some more subtle than others. A couple of the moments were meant for laughs, such as when Steve Martin poked fun at the Iowa caucus.

Actor Josh Gad, who voices Olaf in the Frozen movies, also worked in a joke (or jab) on climate change.

The two most political moments though came during acceptance speeches. None stung more than a brief sentence from Brad Pitt who after winning for Best Supporting Actor for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood remarked on the Senate’s handling of the impeachment trial.

And The Hollywood Reporter writes: “Backstage after his speech, Pitt expanded: ‘I was really disappointed with this week. I think the gamesmanship Trump’s doing, I don’t think we should let that slide. I’m very serious about that.’”

Joaquin Phoenix, who won Best Actor for his role in Joker got emotional as he admitted that he hasn’t always been a good person saying, “I have been a scoundrel all my life, I’ve been selfish. I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I’m grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance.” He then dedicated almost his entire speech to addressing inequality. Here are some excerpts:

“I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes. But for me, I see commonality. I think, whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice.”

“We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”

Watch Phoenix’s entire speech above.

There’s also one more politically-tied win to note. The first movie from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company took home an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The Hill writes:

The project from filmmakers Steven Bognar, Julia Eichert and Jeff Eichert followed the story of an Ohio factory after it was reopened by a Chinese billionaire.