The viral speech that shows why we admire Tiffany Haddish
ANALYSIS | ‘A superstar on and off screen’
Adapted from an analysis by The Washington Post’s Elahe Izadi.
Stand-up comic and breakout star Tiffany Haddish of “Girls Trip” delivered a nearly 18-minute acceptance speech at Wednesday’s New York Film Critics Circle awards that’s since gone viral.
In it, she alternated between outrageous jokes and inspirational messages. As she accepted the award for best supporting actress, she openly hit on Michael B. Jordan and described a graphic scene cut from “Girls Trip.” She encouraged everyone to be their own true selves.
Not many entertainers could hold court for so long and in such a captivating way, but the Haddish speech shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been watching her ascent in the last year. She’s managed to turn some of the most potentially dull celebrity rituals — acceptance speeches and late-night interviews — into refreshing and gut-busting moments.
Haddish shows how to be authentic and charismatic at the very moments designated for celebrities to be authentic and charismatic.
Haddish’s comedy is rooted in personal storytelling. She has an incredible life story, going from foster care to living out of her car to Hollywood stardom.
Her NYFCC speech brought the audience to its feet, according to Vanity Fair, and afterward, everyone from Edward Norton to Willem Dafoe to Timothée Chalamet referenced her when they got on stage.
While the gala isn’t televised, tweets and video of her speech got considerable attention from those not in the room. It was filmed by BuzzFeed film critic Alison Willmore (expletives ahead):
“First, I want to thank God,” she said, “without God, my mama and daddy wouldn’t have put their two uglies together and they wouldn’t have made me,” she told the audience.
Then, she got emotional. Haddish thanked anyone who has talked about her, whether their comments have been positive or negative.
“I appreciate you; I’m glad you see me. Because it’s been so many years nobody saw me,” she said. “When you’re a little kid going through the [foster-care] system, doing, you wonder, ‘Does anybody even know I’m alive?’” she said. “And to be able to be this example to so many youth — there’s so many people like me that you guys have no clue about. But they coming. Because I kicked the f — ing door open.”
Haddish has had roles on “The Carmichael Show” and the movie “Keanu,” but many people first became acquainted with the real Haddish after her July appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Her story about taking Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on a Groupon swamp tour was likely the best late-night interview of the year, and it quickly went viral.
“That is an unbelievably great story,” Kimmel said at the end. He clearly meant it, too.
A month later, after her “Girls Trip” performance was praised by critics and the film became a hit, Haddish left Stephen Colbert googly-eyed as she regaled him with stories about census surveys and living out of her car.
She had Trevor Noah giggling uncontrollably during her “Daily Show” interview. He also couldn’t stop complimenting her.
“There are human beings who have the ability to walk into a room and light it up with not just their personality but also their genuine positive energy,” Noah later wrote on Facebook. “Tiffany is one of those people- A superstar both on and off screen.”
