Morgan Freeman took the stage at the SAG Awards on Jan. 14 and called out the organization for its gender-specific statue.
“I wasn’t going to do this; I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with this statue,” Freeman said. “It works from the back, but from the front, it’s gender specific. Maybe I started something.”
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Freeman was presented his award by Rita Moreno, who was simply returning the favor after he presented the same award to her in 2014, as reported by Variety.
“Morgan is way more than just an actor, narrator, producer, humanitarian. This man is a national treasure,” Moreno said of the Shawshank Redemption actor.
“Morgan likes to say that if you become a star, people are going to go see you. And if you remain an actor, they’re going to go and see the story you’re in,” she then added.
Freeman’s speech was full of surprises, as he also stopped his speech to call someone out who was presumed to be talking during it. We now know that person was actress Lily Tomlin.
Freeman stopped mid-speech to look directly at someone in the audience and tell them, “I’m talking to you,” seemingly because they were talking during his time on stage.
Many speculated on who he could be speaking to but Freeman eventually revealed that it was, in fact, Tomlin.
“Okay, well you just stand out to me. That’s all,” the legendary actor said before continuing his speech.
Following the show, Freeman spoke to reporters.
“She’s a wonder in herself and I’ve always loved her. I see her, I say hello,” he said, which suggests that she may not actually have been distracting him but that he just wanted to acknowledge her.
Tomlin was attending the SAG Awards because she was nominated for her role on the Netflix Original Series Grace & Frankie, in which she co-stars with Jane Fonda.
Interestingly, the two women were nominated against one another at the 2017 Emmy’s in the Best Comedy Actress category.
Recalling the moment they found out, Tomlin said, “I hadn’t even heard about nominations because I go in at 5 a.m. to get fitted for my wig. Jane [Fonda] and I have a makeup trailer that shares a door, and she comes in and opens the door and says ‘Hey! We both got nominated.’ “
