--- description: 'The Boss' actress shares her comedic genius award with comedy's past title: Watch Melissa McCarthy's Inspiring MTV Movie Awards Acceptance Speech image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5173573daf5f04/69888e80cd1bba6e1d7002d4/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Melissa McCarthy's Inspiring MTV Movie Awards Acceptance Speech by [Megan Lasher](/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2016 2:07 PM CUT  Melissa McCarthy onstage during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 9, 2016 in Burbank, California. Melissa McCarthy onstage during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 9, 2016 in Burbank, California.Jeff Kravitz—Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2016 2:07 PM CUT [Melissa McCarthy](http://motto.time.com/4255513/melissa-mccarthy-body-positive/ "undefined") made history this weekend by becoming the first woman to nab the honor of Best Comedic Genius at the MTV Movie Awards. She follows in the footsteps of [previous winners](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/06/mtv-movie-awards-melissa-mccarthy-comedic-genius "undefined") Will Ferrell and [Kevin Hart](http://motto.time.com/4268596/kevin-hart-running/ "undefined"), but she also made it clear that there are plenty of female comedians who made her accomplishment possible. “I may be the first woman to win this award, but I am certainly, certainly not the first one to deserve it,” she said. “I think I’m a walking human patchwork of all the remarkable, funny women who I have loved and studied over the years.” McCarthy went on to list dozens of iconic women from memory, including Lucille Ball, Bette Midler, Gilda Radner and finally her own mother. “My mom … taught me not to fear being the butt of the joke, taught me not to worry about being likable or perfect, and to lovingly go for the kill.” Watch the full speech: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288456/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-movie-award/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288456/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-movie-award/"},"headline":"Watch Melissa McCarthy's Inspiring MTV Movie Awards Acceptance Speech","datePublished":"2016-04-11T14:07:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:12.930Z","description":"The Boss actress was the first woman to be named Best Comedic Genius","url":"https://time.com/4288456/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-movie-award/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5173573daf5f04/69888e80cd1bba6e1d7002d4/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c5173573daf5f04/69888e80cd1bba6e1d7002d4/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"melissa-mccarthy-mtv-speech","caption":"Melissa McCarthy onstage during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 9, 2016 in Burbank, California.","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4288456/melissa-mccarthy-mtv-movie-award/","name":"Watch Melissa McCarthy's Inspiring MTV Movie Awards Acceptance Speech"}}]}] ```