Wanda Sykes delivers epic 26-minute acceptance speech

CNN

08-06-2025

Wanda Sykes closed the night in typical bombastic and hilarious fashion at the Critics Choice Association's Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on Friday night in Los Angeles, delivering an impromptu speech that ran the gamut from community organizing to admitting she hasn't seen the Amazon Prime show 'Etoile.'
Sykes was awarded the last trophy of the evening, for career achievement, wrapping a show that saw other LGBTQ-identifying stars acknowledged for their work over the past year, including Nathan Lee Graham from 'Mid-Century Modern' and the cast of 'Somebody Somewhere.'
As Sykes began her speech, she held onto one of the cards that was on every table at the event, listing the evening's winners. She joked that she should have stopped drinking by the time Liv Hewson – who was awarded a rising star statuette for their work on 'Yellowjackets' toward the middle of the evening – came onstage.
Admitting she had not written a prepared speech – 'I didn't know it was going to be this big of a deal,' she quipped – Sykes then proceeded to go down the list of winners and mention every single one, including her 'Other Two' costar Gideon Glick, who was recognized for his supporting work on 'Etoile' (Glick's win was bittersweet; while it was his birthday and the entire room broke out into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for him, news broke mere hours before the award show began that 'Etoile' has been canceled after one season).
'I didn't watch the show,' Sykes jokingly admitted on stage after talking about how much she loved Glick's speech earlier, in which he reminisced about his mother's acceptance of him when he came out at 12 and some of the struggles he later faced as a working LGBTQ+ actor.
Sykes – who was recognized for her work in standup and as a film and television actor – also called out CCA award-winners Megan Stalter of 'Hacks' and 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Bowen Yang, both of whom she thanked for being unapologetically, and hilariously, themselves.
About Sasheer Zamata – who won a breakthrough performance award for her work on 'Agatha All Along' and mentioned during her speech that she came out as queer last year – Sykes joked that she knew the former 'SNL' cast member was queer before Zamata did.
Toward the end of her speech, Sykes addressed the reality TV award winners of the night, the Season 17 drag queens of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' calling the show a 'staple.'
'Y'all were out there making noise for us before all of this,' Sykes said, gesturing to the event, before adding, 'Drag queens have always been the leaders, the fighters.'
Finally, Sykes shouted out Niecy Nash-Betts, who had been awarded the groundbreaker award just before her, joking that the 'the LGBTQ+ community is such fire, that we got a new member, we got Niecy!' She also thanked Nash-Betts' wife Jessica Betts 'for doing your job.' (Nash-Betts and Betts got married in 2020.)
To conclude her speech, Sykes addressed the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, but also said that protecting the trans segment of the community is 'our fight,' since 'they are getting their asses kicked right now.'
'We just got to love hard. So that means you gotta be proud, you gotta be loud, we have to protect our trans brothers and sisters,' she said. 'Thats our next movement.'