Gal Gadot seized the moment at the Critics Choice Awards on Thursday night, dedicating much of her acceptance speech to the reckoning that has gripped Hollywood for the past few months. The star, who knew in advance she would be accepting the #SeeHer award (a statuette given to boundary-pushing actresses), began by pointing out that the top three films of 2017—The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman, and Beauty and the Beast—were all carried by women.
“Although this is progress, there is still a long way to go,” she said, later pivoting the speech to the shift in the industry as a result of the #MeToo movement. “We’ve been witnessing a movement in our industry and society and I want to share this award with all the women and men who stand for what’s right.
She continued, promising that she “will never be silenced.” She wrapped up: “We will continue to band together to make strides uniting for equality.”
The night wasn’t without its other references to the sexual misconduct reckoning that has impacted the industry (and also drastically altered the tone of this awards season). Host Olivia Munn teamed up with Niecy Nash for a bit in which the duo gave a toast to the men of Hollywood who weren’t secretly terrible, like the people who didn’t ask for meetings in hotel rooms, or the famous actors who didn’t treat women “like crap,” Munn quipped. “Way to be regular human beings, guys!”
Nash kept the bit going, thanking the men at the Golden Globes who used their time onstage to mention the reckoning—er, well, until Munn reminded her that the male winners “actually . . . didn’t really say much” about the movement in their speeches. Which is true! And the same can be said of the Critics Choice Awards, though there were actors, such as Kumail Nanjiani, who wore Time’s Up pins. James Franco, who wore such a pin at the Golden Globes on Sunday, did not attend to accept his award for best actor in a comedy, in the wake of allegations from five women of inappropriate behavior.
Munn also used the moment to mock Mark Wahlberg, who has recently been criticized for reportedly making $1.5 million for the All the Money in the World reshoot, while his co-star Michelle Williams made less than $1,000. Munn jokingly thanked the Critics Choice Awards for paying her and Nash the same wage, while giving Wahlberg $1 million, a “generous” pay cut.
Rachel Brosnahan, who won a lead actress award for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, used the tail end of her acceptance speech to remind everyone that even though people were no longer wearing black, it was still important to support the cause. She also asked everyone to go to the Time’s Up website, a straightforward overture that also served as a reminder that the fight was far from over.
Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:The Must-See Looks at the 2018 Critics’ Choice AwardsYohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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