On Sunday, Jamie Lee Curtis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. The 64-year-old star was honored for Everything Everywhere All at Once, in which she plays Deirdre, an IRS employee who is part of a family's multiversal adventure. During her acceptance speech, Curtis talked about how collaborative filmmaking is and paid tribute to her late parents, actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, who themselves were nominated for Oscars during their careers.
But, the night didn't end for Curtis when she accepted her award. Backstage, the actor entered the press room to be interviewed by journalists, and after making a regrettable joke to one of them, she begged forgiveness. "I cannot handle it if you cancel me now," Curtis said. "Cancel me tomorrow, just not tonight."
Read on to see what the newly minted Academy Award winner said about a reporter that she immediately walked back.
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Curtis joked with reporters from the start.
After accepting her award, as all winners do, Curtis went to the press room backstage to answer questions. The reporters present had to hold up numbers in order to have their question chosen. From the start, Curtis joked around with them. (Warning: video above contains explicit language.)
"What are they bidding on? What do they win?" she asked the room. "They win me?"
She took a question from a "virtual" journalist.
Variety / YouTubeCurtis answered a couple of questions from people in the room before being told the next question was coming from the "virtual press room." Upon hearing this, she responded, "By the way, the virtual people don’t get [expletive]. They don’t get the food. They don’t get water. They’re at home. Their kids are screaming. Their husband’s cheating on them. They’re so bummed out. They want to be here with you people so bad."
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She was shocked the reporter could hear her.
Variety / YouTubeIt quickly became apparent that Curtis didn't realize that the reporter attending virtually from Hungary could hear her.
"Jamie, hi," the reporter said, "And I have good news for you: I have food." They also later joked back, "I don't have a husband."
Curtis responded, "Oh, you're actually—I thought it was just sort of like a tweet. I didn’t realize they were people."
She begged not to be "canceled" for the error.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty ImagesUpon realizing her mistake, Curtis continued, "Guys, don’t cancel me. Please do not cancel me because I assumed that your husband is cheating on you. I literally thought when they said digital ... that it was like a tweet question. Seriously, do not ruin this moment for me. I cannot handle it if you cancel me now. Cancel me tomorrow, just not tonight. Give me a break. I'm so sorry if I was insulting."
At the end of the press conference, which was over after the virtual reporter's time, Curtis made another appeal.
"Now you people are going to hate me because I cracked wise," she said. "I'm so sorry. But I'm taking this really seriously. This is the thrill of my life. And please don’t cancel me. Please."
Curtis' acceptance speech had a different tone.
Accepting her Oscar, Curtis didn't crack any jokes. Instead, she repeated the phrase, "We just won an Oscar" while noting all the people it took for her to get to this point in her career, including filmmakers, family members, and fans.
"And my mother and my father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories," she concluded, referencing Curtis and Leigh. "I just won an Oscar."
