The MTV Movie & TV Awards faced a number of obstacles this year due to ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
More than 11,000 film and TV writers have gone on strike after negotiations failed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents eight major studios including Disney, Amazon, and Apple.
At the heart of the dispute is the rise of streaming, which is reducing writers’ job security and pay. The Writers Guild of America is seeking to ensure better job security for writers and an increase in pay as streaming numbers keep climbing while writers make less money.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards were set to broadcast live on Sunday during the strike, however, the network quickly changed plans and aired a pre-taped special instead, as several attendees announced they would be pulling out of the event due to the ongoing strike.
The MTV Movie & TV awards winners
Nevertheless, 77.5 million people voted in for the MTV Movie & TV awards this year, and the winners list saw a slew of our favourite on-screen actors to the likes of Pedro Pascal, Jenna Ortega, Tom Cruise and Drew Barrymore.
However, the star of the show – winner of the ‘Most Frightened Performance’ and the ‘Comedic Genius Award’ – was none other than 61-year-old Jennifer Coolidge!
ALSO SEE: All eyes on Jennifer Coolidge – the star of The White Lotus
In her acceptance speech, Coolidge thanked MTV and voters for the honour of receiving the Comedic Genius Award before directly broaching the subject of the ongoing WGA strike.
Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
In her acceptance video, Coolidge said:
“Thank you, thank you MTV for honouring me with this incredible Comedic Genius Award.”
And then when on to say:
“Almost all great comedy starts with great writers…As a proud member of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) I stand here before you tonight side-by-side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA, who are fighting right now for the rights of artists everywhere.”
She continues:
“I think of the words of Shakespeare where he once said: ‘The play is the thing…’ I don’t want to put words in his mouth or anything, but I think what he really meant was “It’s everything!”
Standing strongly beside the WGA in their fight against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers refusal to meet writers on their terms, Coolidge proves again the power there is in cutting back the frills and saying what needs to be said.
The full list of winners
Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO
Adam Sandler, “Murder Mystery 2”
Elizabeth Olsen, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
