Joaquin Phoenix Used His Oscar Speech To Discuss Cancel Culture, Animal Rights, Second Chances & More

If there was such a thing as a guarantee at last night’s Oscars, it would have been that Joaquin Phoenix would walk away with the Best Actor trophy for his work in “Joker.” As expected, that’s exactly what happened. And also, the actor continued his recent trend of using his time on stage to not only thank folks for the award but talk about some injustice in the world.

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We saw this happen at the SAG Awards and, most recently, the BAFTAs, where Phoenix gave the type of speech that will simultaneously make some people roll their eyes and others stand and cheer. Last night, the Best Actor winner decided to cap off his awards season sweep by covering just about every sort of injustice he could imagine.

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Topics such as queer rights, racism, gender inequality, and cancel culture are just several of the issues that Phoenix covered in his almost-four-minute speech. The actor seemed to really want to hammer home his thoughts on animal abuse by factory farms. It’s not a secret that Phoenix has had a long history as one of the most outspoken Hollywood figures when it comes to animal rights. He even narrated one of the most-watched documentaries on the subject, “Earthlings.” But his speech last night is probably his most viewed plea ever for the plight facing animals (specifically, cows) at these farms.

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All told, if you were expecting Joaquin Phoenix to use his speech as a chance to discuss something serious, you were not disappointed. But even though we were all expecting a more political speech, there was a ton of humility on display, which caught most people by surprise, where the actor took time to remind folks of his own shortcomings and past issues.

You can watch the full speech below.

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