News feed
Following host Ricky Gervais’ joke about celebrities using the Golden Globes stage to deliver political messages, Michelle Williams did just that. After speaking out about pay inequality at the 2019 Emmys, in a speech which quickly went viral, Williams this time used her platform to address women’s rights, abortion, and voting.
“I’ve tried my very best to live a life of my own making and not just a series of events that happened to me, but one that I could stand back and look at and recognise,” Williams said after picking up the award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her role in Fosse/Verdon.
"When it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest. It’s what men have been doing for years, which is why the world looks so much like them."
"We are the largest voting body in this country. Let’s make it look more like us.”
–Michelle Williams#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/9M9fN1rjrF
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) January 6, 2020
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose. To choose when to have my children and with whom… Now, I know my choices might look different than yours, but thank God or whomever you pray to, that we live in a country founded on the principle that I am free to live by my fate and you are free to live by yours.”
As Williams said this, the camera panned to her best friend, actress Busy Philipps, who was brought to tears by the subject after testifying before Congress in June 2019 about getting an abortion at age 15. Shortly after, when Alabama enacted a near-total ban on abortion in the state, Phillips started the viral hashtag #YouKnowMe to encourage other women to talk about their abortions.
Busy Philipps is me watching Michelle Williams every time she delivers incredibly feminist speeches #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/vhFMrSvrKg
— Jenna Guillaume (@JennaGuillaume) January 6, 2020
“So women, 18 to 118,” Williams finished. “When it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest. It’s what men have been doing for years. It’s what men have been doing for years, which is why the world looks so much like them. But don’t forget we are the largest voting body in this country. Let’s make it look more like us.”
Prior to winning her award, Williams used the occasion to make her red carpet debut with her fiancé, Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail, just one week after People broke the news that the couple is not only engaged but also is expecting their first child together.
