Morgan Freeman once called out to celebrity after SAG Awards speech 'interruption'

June 18, 2024

Fans couldn’t get over Morgan Freeman calling out someone at the beginning of his acceptance speech at the SAG Awards.

The acclaimed Hollywood star was accepting the Lifetime Achievement statue at the SAG Awards, which is given to those with the “finest ideals of the acting profession.” However, he was quick to call out one member of the audience who fans assumed was not listening to his speech. Luckily, the star didn’t leave us hanging and revealed just who he had been talking to back in 2018.

Morgan Freeman calls out audience member at SAG Awards

As Morgan Freeman began his speech at the SAG Awards, he stopped and addressed one of the celebrities in attendance.

“Hey… I’m talking to you. Yeah, hey,” he said softly to nervous laughter from other people, “okay, well you just stand out to me, that’s all.” After clearing up the problem he continued with his speech.

“This is beyond an honor. This is a place in history,” he said.

He revealed just who he addressed during his award show speech at the press conference, held at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. He said it was comedian Lily Tomlin. At the time, it was believed he might have been calling the person out for not paying attention, or even being a bit flirtatious. It turns out he was just surprised to see her.

“Yeah. That was Lily Tomlin. She’s a wonder in herself and I’ve always loved her. I see her, I say hello,” the celebrity told those in the room.

In his speech, the movie actor also called out SAG for the design of their statue.

“Oh, and one more thing,” he concluded, “I wasn’t going to do this. I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with this statue, it works from the back, from the front it’s gender specific. Maybe I started something,” he added.

Morgan mentioning the statue did not go down well

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) some were not pleased Morgan Freeman had called out the SAG Awards.

“If anyone gives the remotest of f**** about the gender of award statues my advice is wise up. There are far bigger things to be annoyed about,” penned another person.

However, others were in Morgan’s corner and believed he was right to say something.

“Morgan Freeman calling out the design of the SAG statue as only male is LEGENDARY!! Love him!” a second said and added clapping, raised hands, and a blue heart emoji.

Someone else wrote: “Morgan Freeman called out the SAG Statue for being gender specific. MAy he live forever.”