Celebrity Speeches That Went Too Far

It's easy to forget that famous people's behavior can be starkly different from how they act with a script or PR personnel guiding them. Because of this, there's no doubt that the entire world relishes in the chance to see an A-lister hit the stage for an impromptu speech, or even better, go off-script and freestyle.

Hey, we get it, live TV can be nerve-wracking, and even long-standing Tinseltown pros get caught in a funny reaction, or worse — the dreaded public celebrity meltdown. "I have been to a lot of these ceremonies, and each time it feels like I had never done it before. The flashes seem brighter, the carpet seems crazier," admitted Jeff Bridges to The Hollywood Reporter. "I still get stressed out at the idea of saying something. My mind overloads." While some may turn to booze to calm their nerves (sorry, Elizabeth Taylor), others may decide to embellish their speeches with anything else that's distracting — such as Lady Gaga's infamous 2010 VMA meat dress.

Philip Pierce, a clinical psychologist with patients who've won Oscars, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, shedding insight on what exactly is going on in the minds of those about to get on stage. "They're very much worried about the public aspects, talking to people they don't know and being in a strange situation." It's in those strange situations that we sometimes get the most magically awkward star-studded monologues. Here are some celebrity speeches that went too far.

It's always shocking to see Robert De Niro get extremely passionate about something when he's not acting in a flick. The notoriously tight-lipped celeb doesn't grant many interviews and is known for his introverted nature off-camera. There is one thing that'll set off the Taxi Driver star, however, and as The Guardian perfectly puts it, he "says as little as he can get away with ... until [he gets] on to the matter of a certain US president."

Taking the stage at the 2018 Tony Awards, the Raging Bull star delivered this simple, albeit powerful message: "I'm going to say one thing: F**k Trump," he declared, raising his fists in the air. Receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, De Niro continued, "It's no longer 'Down with Trump,' it's, 'F**k Trump.'"

Robert De Niro's disdain for the POTUS (to put it lightly), has been highly publicized, and the New York-born actor has even been vocal about his opinions before Trump's presidency. "He's so blatantly stupid, he's a punk, he's a dog, he's a pig, he's a con, a bullsh*t artist, a mutt who doesn't know what he's talking about," De Niro unloaded in an October 2016 voting campaign video by Anonymous Content (via CBS News). The best part about all of this? According to The New Yorker, De Niro has only met The Apprentice alum once, at a baseball game, which was clearly enough time to formulate his opinion.

Vanessa Redgrave is a Hollywood legend, once widely known for her controversial movies such as 1971's The Devils, which was banned in multiple countries. It looks like the starlet was controversial off-camera, too, as it's her speech at the 1978 Oscars that went on to become one of the most overtly political acceptance speeches in Academy Award history.

According to The New York Times, Redgrave won best supporting actress for her role in Julia, where she played an "anti-Nazi operative during World War II." However, while still shooting the flick, the actress was living with a couple of Palestinian students, "who inspired her to produce and narrate a documentary called The Palestinian." As the outlet notes, "It was perceived by some as promoting Yasir Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization." Because of that, the Jewish Defense League threatened to boycott 20th Century Fox "unless it denounced Redgrave and promised never to hire her again."

Fast-forward to Oscars night, where the scandal continued. Redgrave arrived at the ceremony while "Jewish Defense League members torched her likeness and counterprotesters waved the Palestinian flag." When the time came for the starlet to accept her award, she thanked her colleagues then proceeded to refer to the Jewish Defense League as "a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews ... and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism." The scattered gasps heard in the crowd are still unsettling to this day.

It's hard to deny that many viewers of the Academy Awards simply tune out when Oscar winners take the stage and start thanking pretty much anybody they can think of. "Acceptance speeches have become a list of names and more often than not, time ran out before something could be spoken from the heart about the art, about the vision, about the experience, about the meaning of the moment," explained producer of the 88th Academy Awards, David Hill, to The Hollywood Reporter.

One person who decided to skip the heartfelt, albeit long-winded tradition? Writer Donald Ogden Stewart, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of the 1940's classic, The Philadelphia Story. A flick for true cinephiles, The Philadelphia Story starred the legendary Katharine Hepburn, and as Criterion Collection called it, it was a "convergence of golden-age talent ... one of the greatest American films of all time."

So, Stewart must have had a lot of players to thank for such a hit, right? Well, not quite. According to Doris Millburn's book, The Art of the Screwball Comedy: Madcap Entertainment from the 1930s to Today, Stewart took the stage and declared (likely with tongue-firmly-in-cheek), "I am happy to say that I am entirely — and solely — responsible for the success of The Philadelphia Story." Modest? Absolutely not, but the moment did go on to become a memorable one in award show history.

Adam Sandler's career has been long-lasting and filled with critics. The actor has been the subject of cruel movie reviews, like this scorcher from Las Vegas Weekly about 2015's Pixels: "Calling Pixels one of Sandler's better movies is like calling a particular strain of Ebola somewhat less horrifically painful." Ouch.

Well, 2019 saw the Click star go through somewhat of a career metamorphosis thanks to the widely praised crime-thriller, Uncut Gems. After the movie's release, many fans and critics alike were certain Sandler would get an Oscar nomination for his lead performance — yet instead, he came up entirely short.

Sandler's revenge, however, did come in the form of a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead in Uncut Gems. As the actor took the stage, he had some strong words to share with the Academy, yet delivered them in his trademark, goofball voice. "A few weeks back, when I was quote-unquote snubbed by the Academy, it reminded me [of] when I briefly attended high school and was overlooked for the coveted yearbook superlative category Best Looking," he began, joking. "But my classmates did honor me with the allegedly less-prestigious designation of Best Personality. And tonight, as I look around this room, I realize, the Independent Spirit Awards are the Best Personality awards of Hollywood. So let all those featherhead douchebag motherfu**ers get their Oscars tomorrow night!" Needless to say, the notorious jokester got a standing ovation.

Is Joaquin Phoenix profoundly respected among his Hollywood peers? Yes. Is Joaquin Phoenix also a bit of an oddball? Double yes. "Hiding is just a natural state for him," one film producer who's worked with the actor told Page Six. "You'll always be confused about him," another industry associate noted, adding, "Which actually is kind of weird." Okay.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, the Inherent Vice star gifted the world another bizarre moment during his best actor acceptance speech at the 2020 Oscars for his role in Joker. As The New York Times summarized, The Master actor "gave an emotional speech and riffed on several topics, including oblique references to meat-eating, past mistakes and forms of societal inequality." Somewhere in his rambling, Phoenix declared: "What we're guilty of is an egocentric worldview, the belief that we're the center of the universe. We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable ... I think we fear the idea of personal change, because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up."

As The Guardian explained, Phoenix's rant was widely ridiculed, yet what some fail to realize is that the actor has been a vegan most of his life, after witnessing fisherman violently handle fish as a little boy. Nevertheless, there's a time and place, Joaquin, no?