Robert De Niro Dropping the F-bomb And 5 Other Times Awards Shows Got Political

With a great platform comes ... celebrity politics?

The days where awards shows were mostly about outfits and dating rumors appear to be in the past. This is, of course, infuriating to some and inspring to others.

It seems as if President Trump’s election has brought out the political side of everyone, including celebrities like Robert De Niro, who dropped an F-bomb when he slammed Trump at this year's Tony Awards. As the #MeToo movement snowballs, awards shows promise to just get more interesting.

From De Niro to Common, here are six times celebrities used awards shows as a platform for much bigger messages.

You won’t ever have to wonder how Robert De Niro feels about Donald Trump. The 74-year-old actor took the stage during the Tony Awards on Sunday night and, while announcing a performance by Bruce Springsteen, De Niro made it clear just how he feels about the current Commander-in-Chief.

“First, I wanna say, ‘F*** Trump,’” he said. “It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’ it's ‘F*** Trump.’”

De Niro’s comments earned him a standing ovation, CNN reported. 

The dreamers of the world aren’t dreaming alone. During the 2018 Academy Awards, Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani took a moment from presenting the award for Achievement in Production Design to show solidarity with undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as kids and call themselves Dreamers, People reports.

Nanjiani, who was raised in Pakistan, quipped that both he and Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico City and whose parents are Kenyan, are from “places that nobody in Hollywood can find on a map.”

Nyong’o chimed in. “And like everyone in this room and everyone watching at home, we are dreamers. We grew up dreaming of one day working in the movies. Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood, and dreams are the foundation of America.”

“And so, to all the dreamers out there, we stand with you,” Nanjiani finished.

The 2018 Academy Awards didn’t just drop a few mentions of #MeToo and Time’s Up during the ceremony — the show included an entire segment devoted to the movement. Actresses Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, and Annabella Sciorra introduced a video featuring a montage of activists who helped pioneer the movement for accountability in Hollywood, NBC News reported.

The segment also paid tribute to the diversity in filmmaking seen over the previous year, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

“The changes we are witnessing are being driven by the sound of powerful new voices of different voices, of our voices, together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying ‘Time’s up,’” Judd said.

The 2018 Academy Awards were full of references to social movements. Common took the stage during the March 4 ceremony to perform “Stand Up for Something” alongside Andra Day, but prior to the song’s start, he delivered a message to the NRA, CNN reported.

“Tell the NRA they in God’s way and to the people of Parkland we say àse,” Common said, referencing a West African sentiment referring to the power to create change, according to CNN.

“Sentiments of love for the people from Africa, Haiti, to Puerto Rico.”

In addition to showing support for athletes who take a knee during the national anthem (“a knee we take for our souls’ sake”), the rapper also called out Trump during his performance, calling him a president that “trolls with hate.”

“He don’t control our fate because God is great,” he continued. “When they go low we stay in our heights. I stand for peace, love, and women’s rights.”

You’ll usually see stars walking the red carpet at an awards show in stunning, colorful looks, but for the 2018 Golden Globes, a number of actresses, including Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington, dressed in all black.

The move was an effort to protest sexual harassment and raise awareness of the Time’s Up movement, Harper Bazaar reported. Time’s Up was created by over 300 women who work in film, television, and theater to combat harassment and systemic inequality in the workplace and on January 7, dozens of actors and actresses made a huge statement with their outfits alone.

Days after the presidential inauguration, Julia Louis-Dreyfus used her platform at the Screen Actors Guild awards to protest against the travel ban that halted immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, NBC News reported at the time.

“Because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes,” said the “Veep” star, who is the daughter of a refugee from Nazi-occupied France. “And this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American.”

Mahershala Ali, who won best supporting actor for the acclaimed “Moonlight,” also issued an emotional appeal. “We see what happens when you persecute people...they fold into themselves.”

[Photo: Robert De Niro speaks onstage during the 72nd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 10, 2018 in New York City. By Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions]