Frances McDormand Calls On Female Nominees To Stand During Oscar Speech
Frances McDormand took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Sunday night, but, as host Jimmy Kimmel stated, she should have also gotten an Emmy for her speech.
“Pick me up if I fall over a little bit, because I’ve got some things to say,” she said after getting onstage to accept her award, her second after winning for “Fargo” in 1997. McDormand thanked her family and then put down her Oscar and called on every woman nominated that evening to stand up with her.
“Meryl, if you do it, everybody else will. C’mon,” she implored to the clapping Streep in the front row.
Frances McDormand asks all of tonight's female nominees to stand. 👏 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/TukekNUoqE
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) March 5, 2018
Best Actress Frances McDormand asks all the female nominees to stand at the #Oscars, calls for an inclusion rider https://t.co/RuqvtKMvWx pic.twitter.com/jbFHN4kHrT
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 5, 2018
“Look around, everybody. Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” McDormand said.
“Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple days or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best, and we’ll tell you all about them. I have two words to leave with you tonight. Ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.”
Celebrities and fans were raving about the speech and the actress’ call to action on Twitter.
Yes!!! #FrancesMcDormand she was incredible #oscars.
— Tamron Hall (@tamronhall) March 5, 2018
Yess!! Frances McDormand makes space for other women in the entertainment industry during her acceptance speech by asking all of the female nominees to stand. She calls on industry leaders to invest in women! #Sisterhood #TIMESUP
— Monica Ramirez (@MonicaRamirezDC) March 5, 2018
Frances McDormand is my fucking hero. The world’s hero. @TheAcademy
— debbie millman (@debbiemillman) March 5, 2018
Another love tweet to Frances McDormand. You’re my everything ❤️
— P!nk (@Pink) March 5, 2018
I have never been so moved by #Oscars in all the time I have watched it. Seeing all those women stand up and having Frances McDormand demand that people take meetings with women is EVERYTHING.
— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) March 5, 2018
Frances McDormand ❤️❤️❤️ and all the amazing women. 🙏
— Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) March 5, 2018
Frances McDormand. Straight passion. Just the best. Love.
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 5, 2018
Thank you, Frances McDormand.
Inclusion. Rider. #Oscars90 #Oscars #TimesUp— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 5, 2018
I want to be Frances McDormand when I grow up
— Whitney Cummings (@WhitneyCummings) March 5, 2018
ok i’m obsessed with frances mcdormand that settles it
— Lana Berry (@Lana) March 5, 2018
Many, however, were thoroughly confused about what McDormand meant by her final words, a legal term not usually heard on award shows.
An inclusion rider, as John Jay College professor Phillip Atiba Goff explained on Twitter, is “a clause in an actor’s contract that requires the cast and crew be diverse in order to retain the actor” ― essentially, it’s a commitment to representation.
McDormand also talked about representation in her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in January, where she mentioned the Time’s Up initiative in Hollywood.
“So many of you know I keep my politics private but it was really great to be in this room tonight,” she said at the time. “To be a part of a tectonic shift in our industry’s power structure — trust me, the women in this room tonight are not here for the food. We are here for the work. Thank you.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.