Bette Midler was NOT going to cut her Tony Award acceptance speech short

No amount of orchestral music was going to drown out Midler

Published: Monday, 12 June 2017 at 11:10 am

Bette Midler, the famously effusive singer, actress, comedian and film producer, had a long list of thank yous to give in her acceptance speech at the Tony Awards on Sunday night – and no amount of play-off music was going to get in the way of that.

Ad

Midler won the Tony for best lead actress in a musical – Hello, Dolly! – and when her speech far exceeded the usual length, orchestral music began to swell in a not-so-subtle effort to make the 71-year-old wrap it up.

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as YouTube may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow YouTube and its required purposes.

Accept and continue

Midler wasn't buying it.

In the video above, the music starts playing at about 4 minutes 17 seconds in. Midler keeps speaking for another two minutes.

At first, she simply raised her voice, but eventually she shouted "shut that crap off!" – much to the delight of the audience.

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Twitter may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Twitter and its required purposes.

Accept and continue

Ad

After the music died down, Midler praised Hello Dolly! for its "ability to lift your spirit in these terrible terrible times".

Authors

Ellie HarrisonWriter, RadioTimes.com

Ad

Ad

Get the Christmas double issue

Too much to watch at Christmas? Let Radio Times do the choosing to find something the whole family will enjoy.

Subscribe by 3 Dec

Loading...

Ad

Loading...