Earlier this evening, Frances McDormand won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for her work as grief-stricken, outraged mother Mildred Hayes in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Part of her speech, however, was bleeped out by the Golden Globes censor, who suddenly shot into action after a fairly uneventful evening in the curse words department.
McDormand's spseech was bleeped out three times, though she wasn't actually using expletives during those instances. Ironically, though the censor blocked three instances of non-cursing, the censor allowed the only time she cursed — she used the word "shite" – to make it on the air.
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At one point during McDormand's speech, she thanked Fox Searchlight. For some reason, that phrase was bleeped out, leading many to conclude that censors must have assumed McDormand was gearing up to say something else entirely.
Did they just bleep "Fox Searchlight" because they thought Frances McDormand said "Fuck Searchlight"?
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) January 8, 2018
The censor also bleeped out the phrase "tectonic shift."
As it turns out, McDormand has an entire philosophy when it comes to the art of expletives. Much of her character's dialogue in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is characterized by cursing. "It’s like a musical score," McDormand told Entertainment Weekly of her character's "rhythmic profanity." Like her character, McDormand enjoys peppering her everyday speech with curse words; her favorite, according to the interview, is "Jesus tits."
Given her aforementioned adoration of cursing, NBC was clearly gearing up for McDormand to make a colorful speech, and overcompensated in the bleeping department.
@nbc censors were clearly terrified of Frances McDormand. She didn't utter a single curse, yet was censored three times. It's after 11 p.m. Words are words. Let's get over ourselves already. #GoldenGlobes
— Sarah Hope Brickman (@sarahmusing) January 8, 2018
All false bleeping aside, McDormand gave a fabulous speech, one that encapsulated the mood of the evening.
"Well, I have a few things to say," she began, with a playful tone. "We need some tequila. All you ladies in this category. Bar — tequila's on me." McDormand proceeded to thank the film's writer and director, Martin McDonagh, who also won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, and her co-stars, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell. McDormand's speech broadened outward, as many others' speeches did, to address the broader cultural movement.
Her frank speech was the perfect way to end an already powerful evening.
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