Academy Awards 2020: Joaquin Phoenix’s vegan-themed Oscars speech

Academy Award-winner Joaquin Phoenix used his acceptance speech to launch a vegan-themed tirade lamenting the artificial insemination of cows and the use of milk on “cereals and coffee”.

Phoenix won the best actor Oscar for his role as a wanna-be comedian destined to become a supervillain in Joker. It was his first Oscar and fourth nomination.

Widely praised for performances in films ranging from Gladiator to the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, a best actor win had proved elusive for Phoenix.

In his speech, Phoenix said he felt “so much gratitude” but did not feel elevated above any of his fellow nominees — or anyone in the room.

“And this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life. I don’t know where I’d be without it,” he said.

“But I think the greatest gift that it’s given me, and many people in this industry is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless.”

Phoenix then went on to talk about injustice, saying many are “guilty of an egocentric world view, and we believe that we’re the centre of the universe”.

“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable,” he said.

“Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.

“We fear the idea of personal change, because we think we need to sacrifice something; to give something up.

“But human beings at our best are so creative and inventive, and we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and the environment.”

Phoenix rounded off his speech by quoting his brother River, who died of a drug overdose in 1993.

“When he was 17, my brother [River] wrote this lyric. He said: ‘run to the rescue with love and peace will follow’,” Phoenix said.

Phoenix had been seen as the front-runner for the award heading in to Sunday’s ceremony.

Joker won the best original score Oscar as well.

He becomes the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the notorious DC Comics villain. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight in 2008.