Brad Pitt’s Reference To Donald Trump’s Impeachment During Oscar Speech Draws Pushback Online

Brad Pitt laid into Donald Trump during his acceptance speech at the 2020 Academy Awards, but not everyone was too pleased to hear it.

The 56-year-old actor took home the award for best supporting actor acceptance for his role in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, and in the speech made reference to the recently completed impeachment trial that saw Trump acquitted. In his remarks, Pitt made reference to the Republican efforts to block witnesses from the trial, including former national security adviser, John Bolton, whose book manuscript appeared to blow a hole in Trump’s defense that he did not withhold military aide to Ukraine in order to get an investigation of Joe Biden.

In his speech after receiving the first acting Academy Award of his career, Pitt said that the U.S. Senate should have heard from Bolton.

“They said I have 45 seconds. Which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week,” Pitt said. “I’m thinking maybe Quentin [Tarantino] does a movie about it. And in the end the adults do the right thing.”

The remark landed well with the crowd at the Academy Awards, drawing a laugh, but drew some very different reactions online. As the New York Post noted, many people took to Twitter to express their disappointment in Pitt for injecting politics into his acceptance speech.

“I was a fan of Brad Pitt. Not anymore,” one person tweeted. “Brad we don’t need another Hollywood insider giving us his Democrat opinion. Take your trophy and go home.”

“I thought he had brains as well as looks,” another wrote. “What a disappointment.”

Despite the blowback, Pitt said afterward that he did not regret speaking out.

Brad Pitt on why he chose to get political in his acceptance speech: “I was really disappointed with this week… I don’t think we should let it slide and I’m very serious about that” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/LGLoviQ3Xn

— Variety (@Variety) February 10, 2020

Those who follow Pitt closely may not have been too surprised to see his speech take a political turn. The actor has at times been a vocal critic of Trump, speaking out on a number of global issues including climate change. Back in September, Pitt said that Trump is a threat to the United States due to his tariffs on some of the nation’s traditional trade allies.

But Pitt has also expressed understanding of those who support Trump, noting that he was raised in Oklahoma and southern Missouri in a place that leans more toward support of the president. Pitt said in an interview with The New York Times Style Magazine that it was unfortunate to see people who suffer the most ending up supporting a candidate and a party that ended up hurting them.