MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 WINNERS: Jennifer Coolidge and drop-out host Drew Barrymore support WGA amid strike action as pair scoop gongs while The Last Of Us sweeps the board at pre-recorded show – after event was thrown into CHAOS and stars dropped out
Jennifer Coolidge showed her support for the Writers Guild of America Sunday amid the ongoing writers strike, while accepting the Comedic Genius award in a clip for the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
‘Almost all great comedy starts with great writers,’ The White Lotus star said in her speech. ‘I just think as a proud member of SAG, I stand here before you tonight side-by-side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA that are fighting right now, fighting for the rights of artists everywhere.
She added, ‘I think of the words of Shakespeare where he once said, you know, the play is the thing. Well, I don’t want to put words in his mouth or anything but I think what he really meant was it’s everything!’
Coolidge won a second award for Most Frightened Performance for The White Lotus at the event. She prevailed in the category against Cocaine Bear’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Barbarian’s Justin Long, Bodies Bodies Bodies star Rachel Sennott and Smile’s Sosie Bacon.
‘My gosh, popcorn,’ she said. ‘Thank you. Oh, my go. Most frightening death. Thank you. I hope this is the last time that I ever die on a show. I would like to stay alive.’
Solidarity: Jennifer Coolidge showed her support for the Writers Guild of America Sunday while accepting the Comedic Genius award at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards Sunday
The Last Of Us star Pedro Pascal won the honor for Best Hero to kick off the award announcements on Sunday.
Pascal prevailed over a field including Andor’s Diego Luna, Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’s Paul Rudd and Top Gun: Maverick’s Tom Cruise for the honors.
‘I want to say thank you, MTV Movie and TV awards,’ Pascal said in his acceptance speech. ‘I am a child of MTV. This means the absolute world to me. The people at MTV told me that 77.5 million people voted this year. Which blows my mind and just makes it such an honor.’
He continued, ‘I wish we could all be together so that I can look into your eyes and tell you that all young people in the world are my heroes and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. I want to say that you deserve a world that serves your interests.
‘You deserve to be healthy. You deserve to be safe. You deserve for your individual rights to be fought for and protected. You deserve real heroes in this world because you are real heroes to me. And I love you. Thank you. Thank you.’
Cruise was named the winner for Best Performance in a Movie for Top Gun: Maverick, besting fellow nominees Austin Butler (Elvis), Florence Pugh (Don’t Worry Darling), KeKe Palmer (Nope) and Michael B. Jordan (Creed III).
Cruise showed off his trademark showmanship as he delivered his acceptance speech from the air in a jet.
‘Hi, everyone, thank you so much for this award,’ the perennial A-lister said. ‘I make these films for you. I love you. I love entertaining you. How much you enjoy it, how much you appreciate it. There is no better feeling and I hope you enjoy this.
The White Lotus star said in her speech: ‘Almost all great comedy starts with great writers’
The American Pie alum paid tribute to her writing peers in accepting the Comedic Genius honors
Coolidge won a second award for Most Frightened Performance for The White Lotus at the event
She said, ‘My gosh, popcorn. Thank you. Oh, my go. Most frightening death. Thank you. I hope this is the last time that I ever die on a show. I would like to stay alive’
Cruise was named the winner for Best Performance in a Movie for Top Gun: Maverick
Cruise showed off his trademark showmanship as he delivered his acceptance speech from the air in a jet
‘Dead reckoning coming out in July. It’s a wild ride. Have a wonderful summer. Thank you again for letting me entertain you. It’s an absolute privilege. We’ll see you at the movies.’
The Kardashians were named Best Docu-reality Series over Jersey Shore Family Vacation, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition and Vanderpump Rules.
In the category of Breakthrough Performance, Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn was crowned with the honor over fellow nominees Bad Bunny (Bullet Train), Bella Ramsey (The Last Of Us), Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon), and Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies).
Vanderpump Rules quarter Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay and LaLa Kent was named Best Reality On-Screen Team, besting stars from shows such as Jersey Shore Family Vacation, The Challenge: Ride or Dies, RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Adam Sandler took home the prize for Best Comedic Performance, besting fellow nominees Coolidge (Shotgun Wedding), Dylan O’Brien (Not Okay), KeKe Palmer (Nope) and Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary).
The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards aired Sunday from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California in a pre-taped broadcast amid the commencement of the WGA writers’ earlier this week.
Films including Avatar: The Way Of Water, Elvis, Nope and Top Gun: Maverick are among those competing for the Best Movie award, while The Last Of Us, Stranger Things, Wednesday, The White Lotus, Yellowstone and Yellowjackets are among the nominees in the Best Show category.
The long-running awards show is one of the first victims of the ongoing dispute between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America union.
The Last Of Us star Pedro Pascal won the honor for Best Hero at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards Sunday
The beloved leading man praised young people in his speech, saying, ‘You deserve real heroes in this world because you are real heroes to me’
Pascal and Bella Ramsey also won the honors for Best Duo for The Last Of Us
Officials from the Writers Guild had pledged to picket at the event in Southern California – which will would have put celebrities in the awkward position of crossing the line – until MTV scuttled the live event Saturday evening.
MTV executive producer Bruce Gillmer said in a statement, ‘We’re pivoting away from a live event,’ according to the AP.
Gillmer said that the pre-taped format enables the network ‘to produce a memorable night full of exclusive sneak peaks, irreverent categories our audience has come to expect, and countless moments that will both surprise and delight.’
Writers are now on strike and picketing studios, leading the host Drew Barrymore to announce she was dropping out last Sunday.
The 48-year-old actress-turned-talk show host had been set to MC the festivities, but she is now putting her clout behind writers struggling to earn better pay and guarantees on staffing, as studios increasingly try to limit the size of writers’ rooms and shrink the number of episodes per series.
‘I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike,’ Barrymore told Variety. ‘Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation.’
Barrymore added that she’ll be watching the show from home, and she stills plans to return as host next year.
Though she won’t be at the Barker Hangar in person, she may still be in pre-taped sketches that were filmed prior to the start of the strike.
The labor action has also led the awards show to cancel its red carpet festivities, and other stars may also drop out to show support to strikers.
On Thursday, Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent also announced she was no longer attending as a show of solidarity.
‘Although Vanderpump Rules falls under the unscripted sector of TV, that is not an excuse for me to remain silent and carry on as if there isn’t so much at stake for every writer and their families,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. ‘We have to protect our creators and I hope you’ll stand with me and many others as we do so until we reach a resolution (hopefully very soon).’
The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge, who appeared in the first two-seasons of the hit HBO dramedy, has a chance to continue her streak of awards-season wins with the Most Frightened Performance prize for her work in the Sicily-set second season.
She is also slated to receive the Comedic Genius award, though it’s unclear if she will still attend amid the ongoing strike.
The original list of presenters included recent Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis, Gal Gadot, Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lil Dicky’s Dave Burd, along with several stars from Yellowjackets, Transformers: Rise Of The Beats and Joy Ride, including Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu, though some may opt to join Barrymore and Kent in boycotting the show.
Riley Keough, Ayo Edebiri, Kaia Gerber, Bodies Bodies Bodies star Rachel Sennott, Camila Morrone, Suki Waterhouse and The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey are also expected to appear.
Top Gun: Maverick and the shows Stranger Things and The Last Of Us scored the most nominations of any films and series.
Audiences enthralled by the ongoing ‘Scandoval’ on Vanderpump Rules will get to see the Bravo series face off against Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition and The Kardashians.
As in previous years, the show will feature gender-neutral award categories.
The show, which had previously been split over two days for scripted and unscripted content, had been condensed back into a single evening this year.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards airs on Sunday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. It will be simulcast on BET, BETHer, Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land and VH1.
Viewers can also stream the show on Paramount+.
MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominations
BEST MOVIE
Avatar: The Way of Water
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Nope
Scream VI (WINNER)
Smile
Top Gun: Maverick
BEST SHOW
Stranger Things
The Last of Us (WINNER)
The White Lotus
Wednesday
Wolf Pack
Yellowstone
Yellowjackets
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Austin Butler — Elvis
Florence Pugh — Don’t Worry Darling
KeKe Palmer — Nope
Michael B. Jordan — Creed III
Tom Cruise — Top Gun: Maverick (WINNER)
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Aubrey Plaza — The White Lotus
Christina Ricci — Yellowjackets
Jenna Ortega — Wednesday (WINNER)
Riley Keough — Daisy Jones & The Six
Sadie Sink — Stranger Things
Selena Gomez — Only Murders in the Building
BEST HERO
Diego Luna — Andor
Jenna Ortega — Wednesday
Paul Rudd — Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Pedro Pascal — The Last Of Us (WINNER)
Tom Cruise — Top Gun: Maverick
BEST VILLAIN
Elizabeth Olsen — Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (WINNER)
Harry Styles — Don’t Worry Darling
Jamie Campbell Bower — Stranger Things
M3GAN — M3GAN
The Bear — Cocaine Bear
BEST KISS
Anna Torv + Philip Prajoux — The Last Of Us
Harry Styles + David Dawson — My Policeman
Madison Bailey + Rudy Pankow — Outer Banks (WINNER)
Riley Keough + Sam Claflin — Daisy Jones & The Six
Selena Gomez + Cara Delevingne — Only Murders in the Building
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Adam Sandler — Murder Mystery 2 (WINNER)
Dylan O’Brien — Not Okay
Jennifer Coolidge — Shotgun Wedding
KeKe Palmer — Nope
Quinta Brunson — Abbott Elementary
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Bad Bunny — Bullet Train
Bella Ramsey — The Last Of Us
Emma D’Arcy — House of the Dragon
Joseph Quinn — Stranger Things (WINNER)
Rachel Sennott — Bodies Bodies Bodies
BEST FIGHT
Brad Pitt (Ladybug) vs. Bad Bunny (The Wolf) — Bullet Train
Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) vs. Ghostface — Scream VI (WINNER)
Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) vs. Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) — Stranger Things
Keanu Reeves (John Wick) vs. Everyone — John Wick 4
Escape from Narkina 5 — Andor
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE
Jennifer Coolidge — The White Lotus (WINNER)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson — Cocaine Bear
Justin Long — Barbarian
Rachel Sennott — Bodies Bodies Bodies
Sosie Bacon — Smile
BEST DUO
Camila Mendes + Maya Hawke — Do Revenge
Jenna Ortega + Thing — Wednesday
Pedro Pascal + Bella Ramsey — The Last Of Us (WINNER)
Simona Tabasco + Beatrice Grannò — The White Lotus
Tom Cruise + Miles Teller — Top Gun: Maverick
BEST KICK-ASS CAST
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Outer Banks
Stranger Things (WINNER)
Teen Wolf: The Movie
BEST SONG
Demi Lovato — Still Alive (Scream VI)
Doja Cat — Vegas (Elvis)
Lady Gaga — Hold My Hand (Top Gun: Maverick)
OneRepublic — I Ain’t Worried (Top Gun: Maverick)
Rihanna — Lift Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Taylor Swift — Carolina (Where The Crawdads Sing) (WINNER)
BEST DOCU-REALITY SERIES
Jersey Shore Family Vacation
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition
The Kardashians (WINNER)
Vanderpump Rules
BEST COMPETITION SERIES
All-Star Shore
Big Brother
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars (WINNER)
The Challenge: USA
The Traitors
BEST HOST
Drew Barrymore — The Drew Barrymore Show (WINNER)
Joel Madden — Ink Master
Nick Cannon — The Masked Singer
RuPaul — RuPaul’s Drag Race
Kelly Clarkson — The Kelly Clarkson Show
BEST REALITY ON-SCREEN TEAM (presented by SONIC®)
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Vinny Guadagnino, Pauly D (MVP) — Jersey Shore Family Vacation
Tori Deal and Devin Walker — The Challenge: Ride or Dies
RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage — RuPaul’s Drag Race
Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, LaLa Kent — Vanderpump Rules (WINNER)
Garcelle Beauvais and Sutton Stracke — The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Halftime
Love, Lizzo
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (WINNER)
Sheryl
The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie
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