--- title: Sag Awards: Morgan Freeman Calls Out Male Statuette description: Morgan Freeman called out the gender specific award statue as he accepted the lifetime achievement award at the 2018 sag awards. canonical: https://time.com/5112244/morgan-freeman-statuette-gender/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-22T14:15:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:55.713Z og:title: Morgan Freeman Called Out His SAG Statuette for Being Male og:description: "It works from the back...from the front, it’s gender-specific" og:url: https://time.com/5112244/morgan-freeman-statuette-gender/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33114de57a6ab556/6988f8fa929fad4e8ebef4e4/morgan-freeman-sag-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: US-ENTERTAINMENT-SAG-FILM-AWARDS-SHOW og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morgan Freeman Called Out His SAG Statuette for Being Male twitter:description: "It works from the back...from the front, it’s gender-specific" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33114de57a6ab556/6988f8fa929fad4e8ebef4e4/morgan-freeman-sag-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morgan Freeman Criticizing Male SAG Statuettes Was the Call Out Heard Around the Internet > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 22, 2018 2:15 PM UTC  Morgan Freeman accepts the Life Achievement Award onstage during the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards show at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Morgan Freeman accepts the Life Achievement Award onstage during the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards show at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jan 22, 2018 2:15 PM UTC When [Morgan Freeman](http://time.com/4233926/morgan-freeman-voice-waze-science/) took the stage in a baseball cap to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th annual [Screen Actors Guild Awards](http://time.com/5111963/sag-awards-2018-screen-actors-guild-recap/), he had some pointed feedback about the statuette. “Oh and one more thing. I wasn’t going to do this,” Freeman said as he was wrapping up. “I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with this statue. It works from the back…from the front, it’s gender-specific.” The green statuette called “The Actor” depicts – in broad strokes – the figure of a nude male holding the comedy and tragedy masks. It’s created at the [American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sag-awards-2018-how-iconic-green-statue-is-made-1075499). “Maybe I started something,” he finished, with his signature wry smile. Before his closing remark, the audience rose to give him a standing ovation, and the [80-year-old veteran actor](http://time.com/4208521/morgan-freeman-oscars-diversity/) got down to his thank you’s. “This is beyond honor. This is a place in history.” He kept his speech short, thanking his kids, his life partner, and business partner, and Freeman’s onetime Electric Company co-star Rita Morena, who presented his award. But his issue with the statuette’s gender was the line that really took off. People on Twitter were quick to react to his message amid the debate about [gender inequality in the entertainment industry](http://time.com/4361282/geena-davis-documentary-gender-hollywood/). > [](https://twitter.com/FLAREfashion/status/955264600458461184) > [](https://twitter.com/JillianSed/status/955263126693466112) > [](https://twitter.com/xoxoLizza/status/955263208415113216) > [](https://twitter.com/FernandaKellyyy/status/955304945011499008) > [](https://twitter.com/Refinery29/status/955262922573434882) > [](https://twitter.com/MikeSington/status/955416727294128131) > [](https://twitter.com/SAGawards/status/955265848096129025) As far as awards show moments go, it has yet to rise to the level of [“Winona face.](http://people.com/awards/winona-ryders-facial-expressions-sag-awards/)” But someone did use this opportunity to invoke the most iconic moment of the 2017 SAG awards. > [](https://twitter.com/iamxavier/status/955265945253154816) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5112244/morgan-freeman-statuette-gender/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5112244/morgan-freeman-statuette-gender/"},"headline":"Morgan Freeman Criticizing Male SAG Statuettes Was the Call Out Heard Around the Internet","datePublished":"2018-01-22T14:15:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:55.713Z","description":"\"I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with this statue. 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