At the just concluded Golden Globe Awards, veteran Hollywood actress, Meryl Streep, received the Cecil B. DeMille award, which honours stars who have made outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.
The star, who has been an avid Hillary Clinton supporter, used the opportunity to criticize President-elect Donald Trump over his heartless mockery of a disabled reporter during his campaign.
She began with the usual words of thanks, then went on to speak of the diversity of culture that made up Hollywood, and how kicking them out would mean a great loss for the country.
From there, she proceeded to speak about the breathtaking performances and events that occurred in the past year before moving on to the subject of Donald Trump.
‘But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hook in my heart not because it was good. It was — there was nothing good about it, but it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back.’ She started.
‘It kind of broke my heart, and I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.’ She continued.
‘Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence insights violence. When the powerful use definition to bully others, we all lose,’ she said, never once mentioning his name, as the audience looked on in hushed silence.
Watch the full video of her speech above.