Jennifer Coolidge has used her acceptance speech at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards ceremony to voice support for the ongoing writers strike. Coolidge appeared on screen as part of a pre-taped acceptance speech video, during which she shared her gratitude to MTV. “Thank you, MTV. Thank you for honoring me with this incredible Comedic Genius Award,” Coolidge said, before uttering what has now become known as her catchphrase: “Wow. Wow.”
The White Lotus actress went on to share her excitement about being among the cohort of past Comedic Genius Award winners, which includes the likes of Jack Black, Sacha Baron Cohen, Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell. She also revelled in the fact that the statue itself is modelled around “my favorite food, popcorn,” and addressed the WGA strike towards the end of her speech.
“Almost all great comedy starts with great writers,” Coolidge said. “I stand here before you tonight, side by side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA that are fighting right now, fighting for the rights of artists everywhere.” She finished the tribute by hilariously misquoting Shakespeare, saying: “I think of the words of Shakespeare where he once said, ‘The play is the thing.’ Well, I don’t wanna put words in his mouth or anything, but I think what he really meant was, it’s everything.”
Coolidge collected two trophies throughout the ceremony, having also won Most Frightened Performance for her role as billionaire heiress Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus. Other winners on the night included Scream VI for Best Movie, The Last of Us for Best Show, and Jenna Ortega for Best Performance in a Show for Wednesday. Pedro Pascal, meanwhile, took home the trophy for Best Hero.
This year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards ceremony as a whole was affected by the strike, having pivoted from a live ceremony to a pre-taped show following the planned picket lines at the Barker Hangar where the ceremony was to be hosted. For her part, Drew Barrymore dropped out of her planned hosting duties for the show, in solidarity with the Writers Guild. Coolidge and Barrymore join a host of celebrities to voice support for the strike, with the likes of George R.R. Martin, Seth Meyers, Pete Davidson, Patricia Arquette and Amanda Seyfriend also championing the cause.
