Joaquin Phoenix took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for his turn as Arthur Fleck in Joker. The star took the stage to accept the award, giving a rambling speech that saw him thanking, among others, the film’s director Todd Phillips and his fiancé, Rooney Mara.

But he also seems to have dropped a couple of four letter words, as the broadcast of his speech was regularly interrupted by generous bleeps that made it tough to figure out just what he was saying.

"There is no fucking best actor," said Phoenix, who's called awards season "bullshit" in the past.

"I’m such a pain in the ass," he added, in a remark apparently directed towards Phillips. “I cannot believe you put up with me."

The climate crisis seemed to be a theme. Phoenix started off his speech by thanking the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for going vegan with the night’s meal, in an effort to raise awareness of the effects that the harvesting of animal byproducts has on the environment.

He called out his fellow celebrities for sending their well wishes for issues like the environment without making broader efforts to thwart climate change. He was pretty pointed in his criticism, according to MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin, who posted a quote from Pheonix’s remarks to Twitter.

"Hopefully, we can be unified and actually make some changes,” said the actor, before going for the jugular. "It's great to vote, but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives... we don't have to take private jets to Palm Springs for the awards."

From: Esquire US
Headshot of Gabrielle Bruney
Gabrielle Bruney

Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. She's based (and born and raised) in Brooklyn, New York.