Meryl Streep Backs Hollywood, Foreigners And The Press At The Golden Globes

Meryl Streep Backs Hollywood, Foreigners And The Press At The Golden Globes

Meryl Streep made her voice heard as she defended Hollywood and the press while taking subtle aim at President-elect Donald Trump in her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes.

The actress picked up the Cecil B DeMille Award for her outstanding contribution to entertainment and used her time on stage to speak about topical political matters, although she did not mention Mr Trump by name.

Streep said a performance from the past year that stunned her came from the campaign trail, noting the incident where "the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country" imitated a disabled reporter.

She said: "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can't get it out of my head, because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life."

She added that "when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose".

Streep then discussed the topic of Hollywood being "vilified" for being a multicultural place and reviewed the backgrounds of a number of her colleagues dotted around the room.

She said: "You and all of us in this room really belong to the most vilified segments in American society right now. Think about it: Hollywood, foreigners and the press."

She said that Hollywood is a community filled with people from all over the world, united in the mission to show different people and make audiences feel what they feel.

Streep said: "If we kick them all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."

She said support was needed among her peers for the Committee to Protect Journalists "because we're going to need them going forward, and they'll need us to safeguard the truth".

Streep regaled a tale from her time working with Tommy Lee Jones, and how they discussed the true privilege of being an actor.

She said: "Once, when I was standing around on the set one day, whining about something - you know we were going to work through supper or the long hours or whatever, Tommy Lee Jones said to me, 'Isn't it such a privilege, Meryl, just to be an actor?'

"Yeah, it is, and we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy. We should all be proud of the work Hollywood honours here tonight."

Streep ended her speech with a mention of Fisher, who died two days after Christmas Day, and how the Star Wars actress and writer urged others to "take your broken heart and make it into art".

She was introduced by fellow actress Viola Davis, who said her husband urged her every day when she worked with her to tell Streep how much she meant to her, although she waited until the awards ceremony to do so.

Davis said: "You make me proud to be an artist. You make me feel that what I have in me - my body, my face, my age - is enough."

Mr Trump claimed he had not seen the awards ceremony or Streep's remarks but dismissed the actress as "a Hillary lover".

The president-elect, who frequently comments on TV shows including Saturday Night Live and Celebrity Apprentice, said he was "not surprised" he was the subject of scathing remarks from "liberal movie people".

In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Trump denied he had intended to make fun of the paper's reporter, Serge F. Kovaleski.

He said: "I was never mocking anyone. I was calling into question a reporter who had gotten nervous because he had changed his story.

"People keep saying I intended to mock the reporter's disability, as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind, and I did no such thing.

"And remember, Meryl Streep introduced Hillary Clinton at her convention, and a lot of these people supported Hillary."

Despite the criticism he received from the Golden Globes stage, Mr Trump said he was sure other stars would turn out for his inauguration ceremony later this month.

He said: "We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars.

"All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It's hard to find a great dress for this inauguration."

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