TheThing
8 Times Stars Defied Award Shows Playoff Music During Their Acceptance Speeches
BY ROCCO PAPA
JAN 15, 2023
When someone in the entertainment business wins an award, it’s an incredible moment. Not only are they being awarded within an industry they work so hard in, but their reward is celebrated by millions of people watching at home. Some stars win awards early in their career and some win much later. Regardless, it’s always a special moment the star in question wants to remember forever. Thus. these stars kept talking through the playoff music when giving their awards show speeches
However, a lot of award shows have playoff music cued up in case the recipient is talking too long. This is something that happens a lot during live shows, because of the scheduling limitations for television.
This is usually something that offends both viewers and the stars themselves. Here are eight moments when stars kept talking during their acceptance speeches despite being played off by producers.
8/8 Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh’s career has lasted for 40 years, as the actress herself stated in her speech at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Yeoh was accepting the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“I’m just going to stand here and take this all in,” she said. “40 years… I’m not letting go of this.”
However, when the actresses’ moment was interrupted by producers who cued the music to play during her speech, Yeoh told them to “shut up.”
“I can beat you up,” Yeoh said. “And that’s serious.”
7/8 Sterling K. Brown
When producers cue the music during award shows, it not only upsets the stars winning the awards. It upsets the viewers as well. Such was the case when Sterling K. Brown won his Emmy. After his win, producers cued the music and a ton of outraged viewers responded. His This Is Us co-star Mandy Moore tweeted, “Wish we could have heard his whole speech!!”
“You can play, you can play,” Brown told the orchestra, before saying “no one else got that loud music.”
Brown told reporters backstage, “They cut me off before I got to thank my wife!” He later continued the rest of his speech in an ad that was taken out by NBC in The Hollywood Reporter.
6/8 Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon has become one of the stand-out stars of Saturday Night Live. Her various impressions and characters bring laughs to viewers every week. She even got the approval of Ellen DeGeneres herself after doing a sketch parodying her talk show. McKinnon was accepting her award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series when she was interrupted by music. Producers cued the music after only a minute of McKinnon’s speech. McKinnon was in the middle of thanking Hillary Clinton, whom she impersonated on the show, and continued talking before wrapping up her thoughts.
5/8 Scott Frank
Scott Frank was given the award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 2021 Emmy Awards, he was able to quiet the music twice during his speech.
“Really?” Frank said, who was in the middle of thanking his family for their support. “Seriously, stop the music,” he said before continuing and thanking his cast.
The Queen’s Gambit director was able to thank several more people before producers cued the music to start again. Frank attempted to ignore it and raised his voice as he thanked several more people. “I’m almost done,” he said and the music stopped again. He proceeded to thank his co-star Anya Taylor-Joy before the music started again. Frank then ended his speech.
4/8 Adrien Brody
When Adrien Brody won his Academy Award, he grabbed a lot of people’s attention when he kissed presenter Halle Berry for a very long period of time. “I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag,” Brody joked.
Brody delivered an emotional speech, which was interrupted by the music. After hearing the music, Brody said, “One second, please. One second. Cut it out. I got one shot at this.” He went on to say, “I didn’t say more than five names, I don’t think,” mentioning that other winners thanked a very lengthy list of people during their speeches. Once the actor was finished, he received another standing ovation.
3/8 David Mandel
The series Veep was a big success. The show brought Julia Louis-Dreyfus much success for her lead role. However, showrunner David Mandel was awarded the Emmy for Best Comedy Series and dealt with music being played during his speech. Mandel joked that he would “soon be out of a job” once the show ended. When the music began to play, Mandel continued talking for 20 seconds before finishing his thoughts.
2/8 Bette Midler
Bette Midler has had a remarkable career. Her career has lasted for nearly 50 years. Therefore, it was shocking to many when Midler won her first Tony Award for acting in 2017. Midler won the award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Hello, Dolly! During her speech, the music started playing and Midler was not having any of it. She promptly remarked upon hearing the music, “Shut that crap off!” She went on to continue her speech, which ended up lasting more than four minutes.
1/8 Cuba Gooding Jr.
When Cuba Gooding Jr. accepted his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, he started his speech by calling attention to the limited time he was given.
“I know I have a little bit of time, so I’m going to rush and say everybody and you can cut away and I won’t be mad at you,” the actor said.
During his speech, the music started and the actor kept going. He kept thanking people for nearly an entire minute, much to the delight of the audience. The actor kept shouting “I love you!” to many people, including his Jerry Maguire co-star Tom Cruise. He also thanked “everybody involved with the movie.” In the audience, big stars like Will Smith and Steve Martin stood and clapped for him.
