Thursday evening, Tiffany Haddish was among the honorees at the New York Film Critic Circle’s awards and dinner, as she received her award for Best Supporting Actress for Girls Trip.
Her acceptance speech, nearly 20-minutes long, is making its way across the net, with critics at the dinner and beyond calling it one of the best acceptance speeches ever.
Tiffany Haddish: “There are a lot of people like me that you don’t know about. But they’re coming, because I’m keeping the door open.” SHE OWNS THIS ROOM, and the world better be her oyster now. ❤️ #NYFCC
— Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly) January 4, 2018
the best film of 2018 is Tiffany Haddish’s incredible (17 minute!) #NYFCC Awards speech https://t.co/5FD3r9r2HE
— e. oliver whitney (@CinemaBite) January 4, 2018
I also have a video of the nearly 20-minute, legendary acceptance speech Haddish just gave for best supporting actress but it’s too long for Twitter so will find another venue
— Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) January 4, 2018
At the New York Film Critics’ Circle Awards dinner, Tiffany Haddish gave the greatest acceptance speech I’ve seen in the 20 years I’ve been affiliated with the group. Raunchy, inspiring, meandering, defiant. So much life in it. The link is below. https://t.co/gttXPoyava
— MZS (@mattzollerseitz) January 4, 2018
Variety picked up some of her best bits:
On her special cocktail: “The Tiffany special… it’s delicious. I had two, and I do feel like magic.”
On fact checking: “I want to look at the award, and make sure they spelled my name right… [Looks] It’s right.”
On who to thank: “First, I want to thank god, because without god my Mom and Daddy wouldn’t have put their two uglies together and made me.”
On the statue behind her: “All night I’ve been staring at this bitch, I’m trying to figure out who is this bitch?… When I look her I feel like i’m looking at myself, she’s taking a nap but she’s doing a lot of stuff, all at the same time. That’s what my life has been like that last year. I’m asleep, but I’m woke.”
On critics and paying it forward: “…if you say something, thank you. I don’t care if it’s positive or negative I appreciate you. I’m glad you see me, because it’s been so many years when nobody saw me. When you’re a little kid going through the system you wonder, ‘does anybody even know I’m alive?’ To be able to be this example to so many people like me, that you guys have no clue about, but they’re coming because I keep the f—ing door open.”
On the business: “I think this whole business is about how you feel, what you put out to the world, and how you make other people feel. When you feel good about what you’re doing, in my mind, it makes other people feel good.”
On the critics (again): “I’m thankful for the critics. I’m learning a lot about you guys. The only critics I knew before this were Siskel and Ebert and when they passed I was like ‘Oh well.’”
Watch the video, captured by Alison Wilmore, below:
