In wake of 2017’s flood of sexual abuse allegations in Hollywood, 2018 needs to be about amplifying female voices in the industry. And hence, January’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards will feature an all-female lineup of presenters.
As per, The Hollywood Reporter, all 13 of the evening’s acting awards will be presented by women, as will the pre-show stunt awards. Kristen Bell has already been announced as the host of this year’s show. In previous years, a man and a woman have always been paired up to present each award.
“Beginning with the Women’s March in January, it’s been the year of the woman,” the show’s executive producer Kathy Connell said, “This is a unifying salute to women who have been very brave in speaking up.”
This move by SAG leads you to wonder whether other awards bodies–most notably the Academy, whose members overlap heavily with SAG will follow suit. There’s already been some pre-emptive controversy surrounding this year’s Best Actress Oscar presentation. Traditionally, the previous year’s Best Actor winner presents the Best Actress prize and vice versa, but last year’s Best Actor was Casey Affleck, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment. The optics of Affleck presenting the most prominent female award of the night in 2018 are not great, to say the least.
The 24th annual SAG Awards will take place on January 21, 2018.
