Adam Sandler Delivers Hilarious Acceptance Speech Written by His Daughters | “Only Sandman Can Make People Laugh”

Adam Sandler's acceptance speech for the performer tribute award at the New York gala on Monday night ignited the 32nd Gotham Awards. Sandler made his first significant appearance of the awards season at the event to promote his role in the Netflix basketball thriller Hustle, according to Variety. Sandler appears to have not written a speech, and his daughters, who are age 16 and 14, called him “rude” and “mean." Sandler began, “Daddy’s fucking tired. Daddy works hard, calm down. They were like, ‘Can we write your speech, Daddy? So you got something to say.’ I said, absolutely.”

The speech was delivered in the southern dialect that Sandler frequently uses for formal speeches at the request of his daughters. “Well-dressed dignitaries, highly educated hipsters and various other plus-ones of the Gotham Awards, thank you for giving our daddy, Mr. Adam Sandler this prestigious lifetime, all-time, primetime G.O.A.T. achievement tribute award.” Whether or not it was true, the actor's whole appearance on stage was predicated on the idea that his daughters wrote his acceptance speech, giving the audience a self-deprecating look at the family dynamics. "Only the Sandman makes people laugh. F*** every other comedian."

As per Parade, he then listed some of his accomplishments, praising himself for some of his earlier work and making the hilarious claim that the 1999 blockbuster film Big Daddy had paid for his and his family's homes as well as his daughters' braces. He mentioned "comedic classics" like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, and The Waterboy. In continuing his speech, Sandler made the hilarious comment that his films have not only "met with orgasmic critical acclaim", but also "left audiences baffled as they pondered the mystery, 'How did Bobby Boucher get all up in my feelings and make me laugh, cry, and sprint directly to the church to ask God why he had blessed one man with more talent than the entire cast of The Poseidon Adventure and Mamma Mia! combined?'"

He pointed to his wife, Jackie, in the audience as he concluded his audience-pleasing speech with this sincere message, probably through his daughters' minds, of course saying: "Thank you, mommy, for putting up with daddy and his crazy f-----g mood swings all these years. Now that, truly, is a feat deserving of a lifetime achievement award. Love ya, mama." Josh and Benny Safdie, the co-directors of Sandler's Uncut Gems, gave a tribute speech before introducing their star to the audience. The three have already disclosed that they are working together on a new movie. The Hustle actor was one of two actors honored at the occasion with a performance tribute. Paul Dano's Fabelmans co-star Michelle Williams received her prize earlier in the evening.

References:

https://variety.com/2022/awards/news/adam-sandler-gotham-awards-acceptance-speech-hustle-1235443853/

https://parade.com/news/adam-sandler-reads-epic-gotham-awards-speech-written-by-daughters-2022

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Mike Coppola / Staff