28 of the Most Memorable SAG Awards Moments of All Time
February 23, 2025 | by ltcinsuranceshopper

The Screen Actors Guild Awards have given us moments that made us laugh, cry and cheer from our couches.
Since its inaugural show on Feb. 25, 1995, the ceremony has delivered unforgettable speeches, surprising wins and viral reactions in Hollywood history. From Everything Everywhere All at Once’s record-breaking sweep and Parasite’s powerful standing ovation to Barbra Streisand’s tearjerking Lifetime Achievement Award speech, the SAG Awards have consistently produced pop culture gems.
Whether it’s an unexpected kiss, a bold political statement or a long-overdue win (looking at you, Leonardo DiCaprio!), these highlights celebrate the magic of cinema and the people who bring the stories we love to life. Let’s revisit 28 SAG Awards moments we’ll always remember.
Barbra Streisand Reduces Hollywood to Tears with SAG Lifetime Achievement Award Speech
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Streisand received a standing ovation as she accepted the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 SAG Awards, bringing stars like Anne Hathaway and Emma Stone to tears.
Reflecting on her enduring career, she recalled falling in love with film as a Brooklyn teen despite not resembling the women she often saw on screen.
“My mother said, ‘You better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen,” she joked. “And somehow, someway — thank you, God — it all came true.”
Winona Ryder Breaks the Internet
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Winona Ryder went viral for her expressive reactions during her Stranger Things costar David Harbour’s acceptance speech at the 2017 SAG Awards.
As one user on X (formerly Twitter) expressed, “Winona Ryder deserves a SAG award for her emotional journey on stage just now.”
Tina Fey Shares Her Spotlight
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Genuinely shocked to win outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for 30 Rock at the 2013 SAG Awards, Tina Fey thanked her longtime friend Amy Poehler by jokingly saying she “stole so many of her moves” and knew her back when she “gave birth to Lena Dunham.”
Simon Helberg Takes a Stand
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The Big Bang Theory‘s Simon Helberg and his wife, Jocelyn Towne, used the 2017 SAG Awards red carpet to make a statement against President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning all refugees from entering the U.S.
Morgan Freeman Calls Out the Crowd
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Leave it to Morgan Freeman to sport a baseball hat during his 2018 Life Achievement Award acceptance speech. The actor also called out an audience member for using their phone during his speech.
Mahershala Ali Celebrates First SAG Award with Poignant Speech
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In 2017, Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali won outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role and used his speech to reflect on his experience as a Muslim actor amid then-President Trump’s travel ban, which affected several Muslim-majority countries.
Carrie Fisher Presents Lifetime Achievement Award to Mother Debbie Reynolds
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“I’m very close to this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honoree,” Carrie Fisher joked at the 2015 SAG Awards before presenting the honor to her mother, Debbie Reynolds.
Looking back, the moment became even more poignant, as both women died just one day apart the following year.
Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o Talk Time’s Up
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Before taking the stage as presenters in 2018, Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o made a major announcement: The Screen Actors Guild and the Time’s Up organization had created a new code of conduct to ensure the safety of actors on set.
A Big Win for Orange Is the New Black
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The 2017 SAG Awards marked a huge milestone for the cast of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black when they won outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. Taylor Schilling, who played Piper Chapman on the series, also used the moment to address then-President Trump’s executive order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations.
“We stand up here representing a diverse group of people, representing generations of families who have sought a better life here,” she said. “We know that it’s going to be up to us — and all of you, too — to keep telling stories that show: What unites us is stronger than the forces that seek to divide us.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Accepts Award in PJs
Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Twitter
While undergoing cancer treatment, Julia Louis-Dreyfus kept her spirits high to accept her 2018 SAG Awards statuettes. The Veep actress had won outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series (with her castmates) and outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series, sharing a lighthearted thank-you speech in a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) that concluded with, “How was the chicken?”
Parasite Cast Receives Historic Standing Ovation
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty
The cast of the 2019 acclaimed South Korean film Parasite was met with a two-minute standing ovation as Song Kang-ho, Park So-dam, Choi Woo-shik, Lee Jeong-eun and Lee Sun-kyun took the stage at the 2020 SAG Awards. Even though no individual cast member was nominated for a statuette that evening, the ensemble was up for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture — becoming the first Korean film to receive such recognition.
Nicole Kidman Gets Real About Aging in Hollywood
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In 2018, Nicole Kidman, then 50, celebrated her SAG Award win for outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or limited series for Big Little Lies, saying, “How wonderful it is that our careers today can go beyond 40 years old.”
Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Wins!
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After eight previous nominations, DiCaprio won his very first SAG Award in 2016 for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for 2015’s The Revenant.
The Cast of Hidden Figures Stands Out
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Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Taraji P. Henson represented the cast of 2016’s Hidden Figures to accept the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 2017 SAG Awards.
Their impassioned speech honored the real-life women behind the film — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson — closing with the powerful statement, “They are hidden figures no more!”
Alison Brie Speaks Out on Embattled James Franco
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Alison Brie, sister-in-law of James Franco and wife of Dave Franco, gave a statement on the 2018 SAG Awards carpet about her brother-in-law, who was facing accusations of sexual misconduct by five women.
“It remains vital that anyone who feels victimized should and does have the right to speak out and come forward,” Brie told E! News, per the Los Angeles Times. “I obviously support my family, and not everything that’s been reported is fully accurate, so I think we’re waiting to get all the information.”
Lily Tomlin Slays Her SAG Awards Speech
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Esteemed actress Lily Tomlin brought the house down with her unforgettable 2017 SAG Lifetime Achievement Award speech, offering hilarious and heartfelt advice like, “Don’t leave the house when you’re drunk,” and “Watching Oprah really helps turn your flaws into spiritual lessons.”
Dolly Parton Gets the Crowd on Its Feet
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From walking onstage, receiving a standing ovation and slipping in a few jokes about her famous curves, Dolly Parton stole the show with her signature sweet-and-sassy humor before she presented Tomlin with the 2017 SAG Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sterling K. Brown Wins Big
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The 2018 SAG Awards was a historic night, as This Is Us actor Sterling K. Brown became the first Black actor to win outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series.
James Hong Brings the House Down as Everything Everywhere All at Once Wins Big
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After taking home outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, the cast of Everything Everywhere All at Once dedicated their win to then-94-year-old costar James Hong, who delivered a rousing speech on Hollywood’s changing landscape in the 70 years since his first film with Clark Gable.
“Back in those days, I have to tell you that the leading role was played by these guys with eyes taped up like this, and they talk like this because the producer said the Asians were not good enough and they are not box office. But look at us now, huh?” he said as the crowd cheered.
The historic night also saw Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis win individual acting awards, with the former actress becoming the first Asian woman to win outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.
Women in the #MeToo Movement Say Time’s Up
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Before presenting the statuette for outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or limited series at the 2018 SAG Awards, Marisa Tomei and Rosanna Arquette thanked the women who used their voices to shed light on the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. Arquette was one of the first women to speak out against Harvey Weinstein in 2017.
Kristen Bell Gets Shady as First SAG Awards Host
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Kristen Bell, the first-ever host of the SAG Awards in 2018, used her opening monologue to poke fun at then-first lady Melania Trump and her anti-cyberbullying initiative.
“I have yet to see any progress made on that problem — and I’m looking at you, Tony Hale,” quipped Bell, pointing at the Veep actor in the crowd. “You’re a bully. You guys, he’s savage on Twitter. I’m serious.”
Viola Davis Continues Her Winning Streak
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In 2017, Viola Davis won her fifth SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role for 2016’s Fences, becoming the first Black actress to achieve five wins.
Hollywood Gives Rita Moreno a Standing Ovation
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The 2018 SAG Awards audience paid respect where respect was due when EGOT winner Rita Moreno appeared onstage to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Freeman.
Kate and Goldie Present Together
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It’s always a special moment when mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson get together, like when they teamed up in 2018 to present the SAG Award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series to the cast of This Is Us.
Idris Elba Makes History
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In 2016, Idris Elba became the first male actor to win two individual SAG statuettes in one night. That evening, he was awarded outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role for 2015’s Beasts of No Nation and outstanding performance by a male actor in a miniseries or television movie for Luther.
The Opening Gets Better
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Kevin Mazur/Getty (2); Kevork Djansezian/Getty
The 2018 SAG Awards kicked off with an all-women opening that included Allison Janney, Tracee Ellis Ross, Millie Bobby Brown and Bell.
Carol Burnett Brings the Tears
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Comedy icon Carol Burnett left the 2016 SAG Awards audience in tears when she closed out her Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech with a line from The Carol Burnett Show‘s theme song, “I’m so glad we had this time together.”
Betty White Slips Secrets
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At 88 years old, Betty White used her 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech to joke about sleeping with some of the actors in the audience.
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