On Sunday night, the 73rd Tony Awards went down at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. And unlike last year, which saw Robert De Niro make a (random) cameo wherein he cursed out President Trump (“It’s no longer ‘down with Trump,’ it’s F*CK TRUMP!” he yelled, getting bleeped by censors), the night was relatively light on politics.
And then Bryan Cranston took the stage.
After accepting the award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his dazzling turn as unraveling newsman Howard Beale in Network, beating out the likes of Jeff Daniels in To Kill a Mockingbird and Adam Driver in Burn This, Cranston began his speech with a groan-worthy joke: “Wow. Finally, a straight, old white man gets a break!”
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He thanked his cast and crew, as well as the legendary Paddy Chayefsky, who penned the film upon which the play is based, and his lovely wife, Robin.
Then he took aim at President Trump—and his regular attacks on the media for holding him to account.
“Howard Beale is a fictitious TV newsman who found his way into the line of fire because of his pursuit of the truth, and I would like to dedicate this to all the real journalists around the world…in the print media and also broadcast media, who actually are in the line of fire with their pursuit of the truth,” he said. “The media is not the enemy of the people. Demagoguery is the enemy of the people. Thank you very much, good night.”
You can watch his speech here:
