1. The Producers Guild Awards were held Saturday in Los Angeles amid national protests against President Trump’s refugee ban.
The show is not traditionally aired on television like its sister-show the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be held on Sunday night.
2. Several attendees chose to address Trump’s order at the show, most notably John Legend who expressed his disdain before introducing La La Land.
“Los Angeles is the home of so many immigrants, so many creative people, so many dreamers,” said Legend. “Our America is big, it is free, and it is open to dreamers of all races, all countries, all religions. Our vision of America is directly antithetical to that of President Trump. I want to specifically tonight reject his vision and affirm that America has to be better than that.”
Legend also noted that he and wife Chrissy Teigen decided to “put their money where their mouth is” and make a donation to the ACLU.
3. Elizabeth and Nora Rothman opted for a non-verbal form of protest by wearing “pussy hats” while presenting their father, Tom Rothman, with the Milestone Award.
4. They received a standing ovation.
Tom Rothman’s daughters, here to present him with PGA’s Milestone Award, get standing O as they take the stage wear… https://t.co/YSzbhpURm8
— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg)
5. Thandie Newton and Colin Firth addressed the issue while presenting and accepting, respectively, Loving with the Stanley Kramer Award. The award honors films that help raise public awareness of important social issues.
“We may lose the small battles but we will win the big war,” said Newton while presenting the award.
Firth, who served as a producer on the film about the interracial couple whose marriage case was heard by the Supreme Court, accepted the award by saying, “This is for Richard and Mildred Loving, the ACLU, and for everyone whose families are being separated by the discrimination of others.”
6. O.J.: Made in America producer Ezra Edelman also commented on the Loving vs. Virginia decision while accepting the award for best documentary feature.
“I’m standing here as a direct descendant of the Loving vs. Virginia decision,” said Edelman, who is the son of a mixed race parents. “And it’s heartening to be standing here on a night when we are honoring that incredible film and those two incredible people.”
“Please, all the producers in the room, please keep telling stories about our humanity, about our country, about the world that we want to live in,” he said.
7. 20th Century Women producer Megan Ellison also used her platform to speak to the current climate. While accepting the Visionary Award, she told the audience, “The scariest thing we can do now, or ever, is to shut up.”
8. But the evening’s unified mood took a turn when The Apprentice creator Mark Burnett was met with boos after winning an award for his show The Voice.
Many also called on Burnett to release behind the scenes tapes of Trump, the former star of The Apprentice, which some believe may show Trump making inappropriate comments.
Burnett has said that neither he nor MGM, which owns his production company, has the legal authority to grant such a release of footage, if it even exists.
10. On Twitter, attendees and reporters reported that people in the crowd booed Burnett for his ties to Trump.
“Where are the tapes?” and hissing greeted @MarkBurnettTV when he won Producers Guild award for “The Voice” just now.
— Frank Rich (@frankrichny)
Apprentice Producer Mark Burnett greeted with hissing and boos at Producers Guild Awards tonight. Some said “where are the tapes?”
— Yashar (@yashar)
Do I sense an air of hostility in the room as Mark Burnett accepts an award for The Voice? Yep. Boos, even. #PGAawards
— Steve Pond (@stevepond)