Kathy Bates Rips Up Acceptance Speech After Losing at Golden Globes

Kathy Bates had viewers laughing with her perfect response to her loss at the 2025 Golden Globes. The Matlock star, 76, jokingly ripped up what appeared to be her acceptance speech after Shōgun star Anna Sawai was announced as the winner of the Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama award.

Bates cheered on Sawai alongside fellow nominees Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon), Keira Knightley (Black Doves), Keri Russell (The Diplomat) and Maya Erskine (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) before looking directly into the camera and tearing up her paper. (Watch the moment here.)

As Sawai, 32, accepted her Golden Globe award, she shouted out Bates. “I have so much people to thank but I’m gonna keep it short. Thank you to the voters for voting for me even though I would vote for Kathy Bates any day,” she said, earning a laugh from the audience.

“Thank you to our incredible writers. Without a good script, it’s impossible to give a performance to our fullest potential,” she concluded. “Thank you to everyone else. I’m going to thank you later!”

The FX historical drama cleaned up at the Golden Globes, also winning Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama for Hiroyuki Sanada and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role for Tadanobu Asano.

Sunday’s award ceremony also marked Bates’ ninth time as a Golden Globe nominee, having previously taken home wins in 1990 and 1996 for Misery and The Late Shift, respectively.

Bates has received critical acclaim for her return to the spotlight as the star of CBS’ new Matlock reboot, which features the Oscar winner as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a brilliant attorney who uses her unassuming demeanor to investigate a personal mystery after scoring a job at a prestigious law firm.

Ahead of the Matlock premiere, Bates told The New York Times the show was her “last dance” before retirement. As the show was just renewed for a second season, that retirement might be later than people initially thought.

“I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” Bates clarified to PEOPLE in October. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.” She added of her career aspirations before scoring the role, “I remember calling my agents and saying, ‘I think maybe I want to go into, if not retirement, semi-retirement. If I can’t afford to keep my house, I’ll sell it and maybe go to New York. Then this happened. I couldn’t believe it.”