Legendary actress Meryl Streep was honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globes Sunday night for her lifetime commitment to film.
While on stage, Streep, who openly supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the recent U.S. election, made no qualms about calling out president-elect Donald Trump for his remarks on immigration during the campaign. And pointed to the fact many actors in the audience were born outside of the U.S.
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners," she exclaimed. "And if we kick them all out, we'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
The 67-year-old then recounted another, what she called, "performance" by Trump during the election campaign, which she said "stunned" her and "sank its hooks in her heart."
"It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back," she said tearfully. "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was real life. And that instinct to humiliate when it’s modelled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everyone’s life. Because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing."
"Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose," Streep concluded.
The New Jersey native also made a demand to the press to "call" out Trump for "every outrage," and asked her Hollywood colleagues to support The Committee to Protect Journalists.
Streep is one of Hollywood's most respected actresses, with 48 Oscar and Golden Globe nominations to her name. She was nominated for a Golden Globe this year for her role in "Florence Foster Jenkins."
The president-elect took to Twitter early Monday morning to respond to Streep's speech, calling her "over-rated" and a "Hillary flunky."
With files from David Bauder, The Associated Press
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