The world of sports and acting crossed paths on Sunday night at the Golden Globes, as Meryl Streep took a quick swipe at mixed martial arts.
While Conor McGregor may one day stand on stage at the Golden Globes to collect an award for his acting after making his debut in comedy recently, few expected that mixed martial arts would be a topic amidst the acceptance speeches of the glamorous Hollywood A-listers just yet.
However on Sunday, as she accepted the lifetime achievement award, Streep took aim at Donald Trump and the President-elect's vision of the world.
Taking to the stage, Streep stated that the changing landscape meant that many of those in the room were representative of some of the more maligned groups in American society.
"Thank you Hollywood foreign press [...] You, and all of us in this room really, belong to the most vilified segments in American society right now. Think about it: Hollywood, foreigners and the press. But who are we, and what is Hollywood anyway? It's just a bunch of people from other places."
Taking time to go into the backstory of many of the other stars in the room, Streep stated that the diversity and international mix of the movie industry in America was what makes it so special.
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
Meryl Streep gets political with anti-Trump message: "Join me in supporting the committee to protect journalists" https://t.co/0PpcjaEsi6 pic.twitter.com/Sc2GkmoMKO
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 9, 2017
In the room, the line was met with plenty of applause but a number of MMA fans, including Bellator boss Scott Coker, were less pleased.
Stating that he was a lifelong fan of her work, Coker invited Streep to attend the next Bellator event to see the skill level of the athletes, while other fans and commentators felt the remarks at the expense of sports fans were unnecessary given the context of the speech overall.
As a martial artist and an MMA promoter, here is my open letter and #Bellator170 invite to the very talented #MerylStreep #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/zostN22RAK
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) January 9, 2017
Meryl Streep made a beautiful argument about inclusiveness, and I wish she didn't tack that snooty swipe at football/MMA onto it.
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) January 9, 2017
awesome after streep speech about her art being superior to MMA, there's a commercial for the 50 Shades sequel. You can keep your art
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) January 9, 2017
However, the remarks did underscore just how popular MMA and the UFC in particular have become, and the place they now hold in the sporting landscape.
MMA would've paid good money for a Hollywood star to drop the sport into the same sentence as NFL at the Golden Globes a few years back.
— Peter Carroll (@PetesyCarroll) January 9, 2017
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