Bryan Cranston Delivers a Powerful Speech at the Tony Awards Dedicated to 'Real' Journalists

Bryan Cranston not only won best leading actor in a play for his role as Howard Beale in “Network” he also made a powerful speech.

Actor Bryan Cranston bagged a Tony Award for his portrayal of a broadcast journalist in the play "Network." He used his acceptance speech on Sunday as a chance to praise real-life journalists.

He took a moment to dedicate the prestigious award to journalists around the world and thanked them for their hard work. He also admired the lengths they go to in their pursuit of the truth.

The two-time Tony winner called out President Donald Trump for claiming that "fake news media is the enemy of the American people" during his acceptance speech.

“The media is not the enemy of the people. Demagoguery is the enemy of the people.”

While the " Network" was nominated for five awards, Cranston's was the only one that they won. Cranston started the speech by giving thanks to the cast and crew of "Network" and his wife.

He then spoke about his character, the volatile television news anchor Howard Beale, in the production. Before addressing Trump's sentiments about the media saying,

“I would like to dedicate this to all the real journalists around the world, both in the press — the print media — and the broadcast media, who actually are in the line of fire with their pursuit of the truth,” said Cranston in his speech. Adding, “The media is not the enemy of the people. Demagoguery is the enemy of the people.”

Before beginning, the actor controversially joked that "finally a straight old white man gets a break.” While most people praised the rest of his speech some fans questioned the ill-timed joke at the beginning.

However, Cranston reportedly elaborated on his statement backstage. He reportedly said to journalists,

“Who wants to keep working with old white men? That’s boring. And the stories are old and stale to me.”

Cranston was not the only celebrity to use their win as an opportunity to make a statement. "To Kill a Mockingbird" actress Celia Keenan-Bolger bagged an award for best-featured actress in a play and said,

"I grew up in a neighborhood where my grandparents had a cross burned on their front lawn because they were being welcoming to black families that were integrating into the neighborhood. They raised my mother and her siblings alongside those families and when my mother met my father, instead of moving to the suburbs, they raised me and my brother and my sister in that same neighborhood."

The 2019 Tony Awards was broadcasted on CBS from the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.