Comedian Patton Oswalt’s monologue that opened Sunday night’s Writers Guild Awards was as filled with Trump bashing as anything we’ve seen lately from celebrities who have been given a podium and a stage.
After taking a handful of digs at the president, Oswalt said, “Donald Trump — I want to be very careful about making jokes about. One, because I don’t want to be kicked to death by James Woods backstage, which would be an honor, by the way. That would be amazing.”
Giving the comedian a taste of his own medicine, Woods ripped one of Oswalt’s shoes off and displayed it to the audience, showing he was wearing sneakers at a black tie affair.
Woods, a vocal conservative and Donald Trump supporter, was sitting in front of the stage. He took Oswalt’s jokes well and even had a few of his own. The “Videodrome” actor jumped onto the stage after yelling at Oswalt, “Buy a pair of shoes!”
Giving the comedian a taste of his own medicine, Woods ripped one of Oswalt’s shoes off and displayed it to the audience, showing he was wearing sneakers at a black tie affair. He chided the comedian by saying, “This is an awards show! Didn’t you see ‘Crazy, Wonderful, Love’ or whatever it’s called? Get some shoes!”
The movie Woods was referring to was “Crazy, Stupid, Love” starring Ryan Gosling. In it, a dating advice expert tells a character to upgrade his sneakers.
Woods also joked, “By the way, I lost half of my Twitter following today coming here,” to which Oswalt replied, “Wow, all those egg avatars gone. That’s terrible.”
[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://youtu.be/UitDBgxd3YY]
Though the two were joking at each other’s expense, both seemed in high spirits and they exchanged positive words at the ceremony and later through Twitter.
[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/833550196986359808]
“I loved you in ‘The Onion Field,’” said Oswalt to Woods as the actor hopped off the stage. “You can do whatever you want to me. Thank you.”
The rest of the night was not nearly as interesting as the Woods-Oswalt exchange. It was filled with the typical acceptance speeches littered with Trump hysteria that we hear constantly from the mouths of celebrities.
Related: J.K. Rowling Goes Political, Picks Fights with Fans
“If you win this award tonight, I want everybody to remember not to get a big head because there are millions of illegal voters in California. Not to mention the ones in Massachusetts who took a bus and voted in New Hampshire,” joked comedian Chelsea Handler from the stage.
“West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin won the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement — and went on an anti-Trump tirade, calling the president “out of touch.”
In contrast, and in a somewhat refreshing moment, director Oliver Stone took a break from the evening’s scolding of the president. He instead chose to call out both major political parties. He was being awarded WGA West’s Laurel Award — there were simultaneous ceremonies being broadcast on the East and West coasts. The award was presented to him by Woods, a friend and colleague who starred in the director’s 1986 and 1995 features, “Salvador” and “Nixon.”
“It’s fashionable now to take shots at Republicans and Trump and all that and avoid the Obamas and Clintons,” the “Platoon” director said, according to Deadline. “But remember this: In the 13 wars we’ve started over the last 30 years and the 14 trillion dollars we’ve spent and the hundreds of thousands of lives that have perished from this Earth, remember that it wasn’t one leader but a system — both Republican and Democrat.”
When Woods had the stage, he continued his good humor by saying, “So my publicist says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t talk politics.’ I say, ‘OK.’ And I show up and 15 minutes later I’m Darth Vader.”
In a night filled with the typical Hollywood Trump-bashing the public has grown accustomed to (and tired of), Woods and Oswalt displayed something important — how two people on opposite sides of the political spectrum can share a few laughs in these polarized times. It’s a lesson that many, including much of Hollywood, should be taking notes on.
Related: Ted Nugent, Other Conservative Celebs May Run for Office
When other Hollywood insiders tried to slam Woods’ humor later, Oswalt rushed to the man’s defense. “Many Trump supporters think they’re really funny. Yeah, nope,” tweeted gossip columnist Perez Hilton, along with a picture of Woods and Oswalt onstage during the ceremony.
Oswalt responded, “He was actually pretty cool, Perez. And fun to talk with.”
Woods also said on Twitter later that Oswalt “knocked it out of the park.”
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.