Played Off

At the Academy Awards, winners have 45 seconds for an acceptance speech. When the time is up, the orchestra begins to play them off the stage.

Some stars keep talking anyway. In 2001 Julia Roberts spoke for about four minutes while the orchestra leader stood ready to play her off. In 2025 Adrien Brody spoke for 5 minutes and 40 seconds, the longest acceptance speech in the history of the Oscars.

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