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CBS rushed to censor a Tony Award winner’s particularly impassioned acceptance speech.
The 2023 Tony Awards took place on Sunday evening (June 12) at the United Palace in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
The awards ceremony was hosted by recurring host Ariana DeBose and telecast for US viewers at home on CBS and Paramount+.
Follow along Our live blog for all updates from the 2023 Tony Awards and The full list of winners can be found here.
Michael Arden was among the evening’s winners after triumphing in the Best Director of a Musical category.
Arden won for directing the Broadway revival of the 1998 musical Parade, about the lynching of Leo Frank by an anti-Semitic mob.
However, Arden had a small segment of his speech censored for using a homophobic slur.
In his acceptance speech, Arden addressed the queer community.
“And to our beautiful transgender, non-binary, queer youth: know that it is your weirdness that makes you beautiful and powerful,” he said. “Everyone in this room sees you and needs you and will fight by your side and we will win.”
“Growing up, I was called the F-word more times than I can remember,” Arden said. “And all I can say is I’m screwed with a Tony now.”
The last part of his speech – in which Arden voiced the insult in full – was censored by the network, leaving viewers at home wondering what the director had said.
The text of his full speech was soon released on Twitter.
Tony nominee Ben Platt – who starred in Arden’s production of “Parade” – was one of many in the audience cheering him on. The actor had risen from his seat and applauded Arden’s words.
At the beginning of the awards ceremony, DeBose explained in detail why and how the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood has impacted this year’s Tony Awards.
(Getty)
“Our siblings at the WGA are on strike to get a fair deal right now – and how many of us know what that’s like?” DeBose told the audience, who applauded in response.
“I’m sure some of you at home are thinking, ‘What does this have to do with the Tony Awards?'” the actor continued.
“The awards are traditionally written by members of the WGA. So for the show to happen, a lot of people had to come together and find a compromise.”
DeBose went on to explain what that “compromise” entailed, revealing that neither she nor anyone on stage during the awards ceremony would read from any script due to the agreement reached.