Billy Bob Thornton slams celebrities for political award show speeches
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Billy Bob Thornton calls out celebrities who bring politics to award ceremonies.
During a recent interview “The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe 70-year-old actor stated that he “doesn’t care much about awards anymore” and said that he “received a lot of awards” and won most of them “while awards were still real”.
“I’ve won a few lately,” he said. “But these days I look at it like, okay, we’re going to go in here and eat some jerk chicken breasts and green beans and listen to people come out there and say how great they are.”
He explained that he thinks that if someone wins an award and is “truly honored by it,” they should spend their time on stage “honoring the people who gave it to you” rather than bringing awareness to a cause.
Thornton said instead of raising awareness for a cause, people should honor those who gave them the award. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
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“There’s a time and a place for that,” he said, adding that “you have to stay true to what you are” at award ceremonies.
“Don’t go out there and talk about saving badgers in Wisconsin or anything, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “And people argue and say, ‘No, because I have a voice and everyone knows me. This is a great platform for me to put it out there.'”
“So how about this? If you have a billion dollars and you want to save the badgers, save them,” he added. “I mean, you’ve got enough money to save the badgers, trust me. It’ll barely cut into your budget.”
Host Joe Rogan agreed, adding that it’s like “saying how special you are because you really care about the people in Sudan or something,” adding that it’s their “way of letting everyone know you’re a great person.”
Billy Bob Thornton has an Oscar for the 1996 movie “Sling Blade.” (Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Thornton got his big break in Hollywood in 1996 with the movie “Sling Blade”, which he wrote, directed and starred in. In addition to earning him the Academy Award for best screenplay, the film also earned him a nomination for actor in a leading role.
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Looking back on her career, Thornton told Fox News Digital in November 2024 that she was happy to have found success in her acting career when she was older, adding: “If I had been nominated for an Academy Award at 21, who knows what I would have done with it?”
“Don’t go out there and talk about saving badgers in Wisconsin or anything, you know what I’m saying?”
“I think if this had happened when I was 18 or 21, who knows I would be here now because I was a little bit more laid-back in those days,” he said.
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“And yeah, I’m kind of happy about that because I grew up in the music business, so I was already familiar with being in the entertainment business, but not that much,” he continued. “And I think growing up as a musician helped prepare me for some things because we could be local heroes, sometimes as musicians or regionally. But it was a big blast.”
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Thornton is currently starring in “Landman” opposite Demi Moore. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
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He currently stars opposite Demi Moore in the popular Paramount+ series “Landman,” playing oil executive Tommy Norris, who is trying to make his company number one in the industry.
