Celebs Who Thanked Their Partners in Oscars Acceptance Speeches

Backstage support! When celebrities win Oscars, they usually run through a lengthy thank-you list of names, but many of them also acknowledge a person not involved in the film: their partner.

Thanking your partner from the Academy Awards stage is something so expected of Oscar winners that forgetting to do it can make headlines. In 2000, Hilary Swank famously left her then-husband, Chad Lowe, out of her speech while accepting the Best Actress trophy for her performance in Boys Don’t Cry.

The Pretty Little Liars alum, who split from Swank in 2006, later said he “didn’t feel forgotten” because he knew how nervous she was at the podium. “I felt bad for her because I knew immediately,” he told Larry King in January 2007. “I could see in her eye the second she was off [stage] that she realized that. I felt for her more than I felt for myself.”

The Amelia star got a second shot at a spouse shout-out when she won the Best Actress award again in 2005 for her work in Million Dollar Baby. “I am going to start by thanking my husband because I’d like to think I learn from past mistakes,” she said in her speech. “Chad, you’re my everything. Thank you for your support. It means the world. I would never be standing here if it weren’t for each and every one of the brilliant people I had surrounding me, supporting me and believing in me.”

A handful of other winners have gotten the chance to thank their partners multiple times in their Oscar speeches, including Mahershala Ali and Frances McDormand. The Luke Cage alum won his first Academy Award in 2017 for his performance in Moonlight and then won again in 2019 for Green Book. Both times, he gave a sweet nod to his wife, Amatus Sari-Karim.

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“Lastly I just wanna thank my wife, who was in her third trimester doing awards season,” Ali said at the 89th Academy Awards in February 2017. “I just wanna thank her for being such a soldier through this process … and really carrying me through it all.”

The couple, who tied the knot in 2013, welcomed daughter Bari four days before the 2017 edition of the Oscars. When Ali won again in 2019, he thanked Sari-Karim a second time — and added a hello for Bari as well.

Keep scrolling to see which Oscar winners thanked their partners in their acceptance speeches.

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Frances McDormand

The Nomadland actress has won three Oscars, and each time, she thanked her husband, Joel Coen, and their son, Pedro. “I especially want to thank my clan, Joel and Pedro ‘McCoen,'” she said in 2018 while accepting the Best Actress trophy for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. “These two stalwart individuals were well-raised by their feminist mother. They value themselves, each other and those around them. I know you are proud of me and that fills me with everlasting joy.”

Mahershala Ali

The True Detective alum paid tribute to his grandmother before shouting out his wife and daughter in his 2019 speech. “I want to dedicate this to my grandmother, who has been in my ear my entire life,” he said. “Telling me that if at first I don’t succeed, try, try again. That I could do anything I put my mind to. Always, always pushing me to think positively. And I know I would not be here without her. She’s got me over the hump every step of the way. I thank my wife and my daughter Bari.”

Viola Davis

The How to Get Away With Murder alum closed her Oscars speech in 2017 with a loving tribute to her husband, Julius Tennon, and their daughter, Genesis. “To my husband and my daughter. My heart, you and Genesis,” she said while accepting the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her work in Fences. “You teach me every day how to live, how to love. I’m so glad that you are the foundation of my life.”

J.K. Simmons

“I am grateful everyday for the most remarkable person I know: my wife, the wonderful Michelle Schumacher,” the Spider-Man star said in 2015 when accepting the Best Supporting Actor prize for Whiplash. “I’m grateful for your love, your kindness, your wisdom, your sacrifice and your patience.”

Matthew McConaughey

The Sahara star thanked his wife, Camila Alves, and their three children in 2014 when he won the Best Actor award for Dallas Buyers Club. “To my wife, Camila, and my kids Levi, Vida and [Livingston], the courage you give me every time I walk through the door is unparalleled,” he said. “You are the four people in my life that I want to make the most proud of me. Thank you.”

Ben Affleck

The Deep Water actor made headlines in 2013 when he thanked then-wife Jennifer Garner with a speech about how hard marriage can be. “I want to thank my wife, who I don’t usually associate with Iran,” he said, referencing the setting of his movie Argo, which had just won Best Picture. “I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It’s good. It is work, but it’s the best kind of work, and there’s no one I’d rather work with.”