Julia Louis-Dreyfus took multiple digs at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a politically charged acceptance speech while receiving the Mark Twain Prize for…
Julia Louis-Dreyfus took multiple digs at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a politically charged acceptance speech while receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
“I attended Holton-Arms, a girls school in the Washington area,” Louis-Dreyfus told the audience at Sunday’s award ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “It has been in the news lately,” Louis-Dreyfus said of the school in Bethesda, Md., which Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford attended the same year as the former “Seinfeld” star.
Ford, now a college professor, accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were in high school.
“Back in fourth grade, as a matter of fact, I was in a very serious Holton-Arms production of ‘Serendipity,’” Louis-Dreyfus continued.
“You know it’s funny with us Holton girls — I remember every detail of that play. I could swear to it under penalty of perjury,” said Louis-Dreyfus. “And yet, I don’t remember who drove me to the show or who drove me home,” she added, to applause from the crowd.
“Or if Squee or Tobin were there. Or if Bart put it on his weird wall calendar,” Louis-Dreyfus — who in September was one of several Holton-Arms alumnae to sign a letter of support for Ford — said.
Critics questioned the account Ford gave during testimony last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying she couldn’t remember the house where she was allegedly assaulted or how she got home.
“This, by the way, is totally true and not some kind of subtle attack on our newest Supreme Court Justice – for God’s sake the man has suffered enough,” Louis-Dreyfus quipped.
Kavanaugh was confirmed earlier this month following the ferocious confirmation battle.
While she was being celebrated for her comedy chops, Louis-Dreyfus told ITK ahead of the ceremony that she’s having a hard time getting a laugh from the current, real-life political world these days.
“Oh, God. Close your eyes and pick,” Louis-Dreyfus said on the red carpet, when asked the funniest thing about politics.
“Except I don’t think it’s that funny anymore, to tell you the truth,” the 57-year-old actress said. “If you want to get funny watch ‘Veep.’ That’ll maybe take you out of this situation.”
Between the accolades and one-liners, several of the performers honoring Louis-Dreyfus directed some zingers towards President Trump and his administration.
Former “30 Rock” star Tina Fey, who famously played 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live,” quipped that she and Louis-Dreyfus “both won Emmys for playing people who should never be vice president.”
“By the way, everyone talks about all the parallels between ‘Veep’ and the current administration,” Fey said. “But I think it’s more like ‘Seinfeld’: just a bunch of selfish dicks who don’t give a crap about anyone other than themselves.”
“The Big Sick” star Kumail Nanjiani made a tongue-in-cheek pitch to draft Louis-Dreyfus to run for president, playing off of Trump’s “drain the swamp” remarks: “[Louis-Dreyfus] will deplete the marsh. She will diminish the bog. She will empty the quagmire.”
«The fact that I have the opportunity to make people laugh for a living,» Louis-Dreyfus said as she accepted her award, her voice breaking, «is one of the many blessings that I’ve received in my life.»
The honor for the “Veep” star brought a who’s who of the entertainment industry to Washington. Also among those on-hand to laud Louis-Dreyfus: Jerry Seinfeld, CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson from Comedy Central’s “Broad City,” singer Jack Johnson, Keegan-Michael Key (who doubled as “Mark Twain,” complete with a voluminous mustache, to yuk it up onstage) and “Veep’s” Tony Hale.
The awards show is poised to air on Nov. 19 on PBS stations nationwide.
