Jean Smart Says Networks Shouldn’t Air Upcoming Award Shows & Donate to Fire Victims Instead

The Hacks star — who picked up Golden Globe Award earlier this week for her work on the HBO comedy — took to Instagram on Wednesday, urging networks to forgo airing upcoming awards shows and, instead, donate to the victims of the L.A. wildfires and firefighters.

“With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters,” the actress wrote on her Instagram account, following a capitalized “ATTENTION.”

While the 73-year-old did not name any specific awards ceremonies, the biggest ones coming up are the Screen Actors Guild Awards — airing live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, February 23 — and the Academy Awards, which ABC will air live from the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences already decided to extend the Oscar nomination voting window following the fires, pushing the deadline to 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday, January 14. The unveiling of this year’s Oscar nominations has also been pushed back from Friday, January 17, to Sunday, January. 19.

The Critics Choice Awards, which were supposed to be this coming Sunday, have also been rescheduled to January 26.

Smart’s idea was met with some criticism, with one person claiming to be a talent executive who works for “said award shows” questioning how the idea would benefit those “below the line” in the comments.

“Those of us ‘below the line’ rely on award season financially to get us through the year,” they wrote. “Jean, my job as a Talent Executive exists solely to celebrate your achievements and ensure you and your peers have an enjoyable time at these events. Productions shutting down will further contribute to the demise of LA. How will those of us rebuild if we can’t work?”

While another suggested to change the format of the show: “Could the show still go on but all profits be donated? Then could the awards shows could be produced as fundraisers, too – sort of like a telethon?”

Smart’s message comes after she just took home her second Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy for her work in the third season of the Max series Hacks. Production for the show has paused due to the blazes in various areas of L.A..

Adrien Brody felt uneasy celebrating his current awards sweep and cried for the victims of the L.A. fires while accepting the best actor prize at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Wednesday night in New York City.

“I would be remiss to not mention the weight of what’s on all of our minds and in our hearts tonight,” Brody said, who took home the award for his performance as László Tóth in director Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.

“It’s been a heavy day for me. It’s always hard to accept something like this when there’s so much suffering in the world. My heart goes out to all the families and the animals and our colleagues,” he continued.

“Most of the homes on the west side, the beach side of the [Pacific Coast Highway] are gone. From the Palisades on, this is our community,” he added. “So I just want to thank and commend the bravery of the first responders, and their sacrifices and their meaningful work that deserves our recognition tonight.”