politics

Julia Louis-Dreyfus delivered the ultimate smack-down to Trump during her SAG acceptance speech.

 

With everything going on in the world of politics right now, it’s no surprise that 2017 is already shaping up to be the year of the political speech.

Meryl Streep caused divide with hers at the Golden Globes, and today’s Screen Actors Guild Awards saw many more high profile Hollywood stars pick up the mantle.

Fresh from her appearance at the Women’s March last weekend, Veep actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus used her best actress in a comedy acceptance speech to direct a personal message to Donald Trump and his latest immigration ban.

Listen: Should Hollywood stars be getting political in their speeches? Post continues after audio.

“I want you all to know that I am a daughter of an immigrant,” she began.

“My father fled religious persecution in Nazi occupied France and I’m an American patriot, and I love this country. And because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American.”

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Image: Getty

She then went on to quote a statement released earlier by the SAG's sister guild WGA which she was in "complete agreeance" with.

"Our guilds are unions of storytellers, who have always welcomed those of different nations and of varying beliefs who wish to share their creativity with America. We are grateful for them. We stand with them and we will fight for them. Thank you very much."

House of Cards and Luke Cage actor Mahershala Ali also used his moment in the spotlight to get political - and emotional -  after winning best supporting actor for Moonlight, a drama centred around an African-American boy struggling with his identity, sexuality and race.

"I think what I've learned from working on Moonlight is we see what happens when you persecute people. They fold into themselves and what I was so grateful about in having the opportunity to play Juan was playing a gentleman who saw a young man folding into himself as a result of the persecution of his community and taking that opportunity to uplift him and tell him that he mattered," he said, choking back tears.

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"And that he was ok. And accept him. And I hope that we do a better job of that."

He then went on to encourage everyone to identify differences and embrace them, rather than fight them.

"When we kind of get caught up in the minutiae, the details that make us all different, I think there's two ways of seeing that," he said. (Post continues after gallery.)

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"There's the opportunity to see the texture of that person, the characteristics that make them unique. And then there's the opportunity to go to war about it. When you see that that person is different from me and I don't like you, so let's battle.

"My mother is an ordained minister. I'm a Muslim. She didn't do back flips when I called her to tell her I converted 17 years ago. But I tell you now, we put things to the side and I'm able to see her, she's able to see me. We love each other, the love has grown and that stuff is minutiae, it's not that important."

Hear, hear.