Zoe Saldaña Panicked and Drop Off F-Bombs During BAFTA Speech
Awards season is always full of best (and worst) dressed celebrities and glamorous moments. But sometimes, the most memorable moments come from behind the scenes or during speeches when celebrities get caught up in the moment. Case in point: Zoe Saldaña, who found herself in a moment of panic and dropped a few F-bombs during her Best Supporting Actress speech at the 2025 BAFTA Awards.
Zoe Saldaña Wins 2025 BAFTA Best Supporting Actress Award
Saldaña, who is no stranger to major red carpets and award shows (after all, she’s won the Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice for Best Supporting Actress awards for her role in Emilia Pérez) became visibly flustered while giving her Best Supporting Actress speech when she realized she was running out of time. The Guardians of the Galaxy actress, looking elegant and classy in her black evening gown with mesh detailing, let loose a few colorful words.
She said in her speech, “I was told not to cry by my children, so I’ll try. This is so validating and a true honor, because the very few times that I went for a part with a British accent, the dialect coach was like, ‘This is not gonna happen for you.’ Even though I do love a British accent, I have a lot of British friends, I always find myself repeating all their phrases like ‘Gather,’ and ‘Of course’ and ‘I know that I’m a pain in the ar–‘ but luckily, I’m still friends with most of them. Right, Kate?” The camera then focused on British actress, Kate Winslet.
She continued with her speech and thanked her director, crew, and co-stars (she also mentioned Karla Sofía Gascón who is embroiled in a controversy for her resurfaced problematic tweets in the past and whom director Jacques Audiard called out for continuing to hurt the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film).
She continued with her speech and thanked her “makeup artist and closest confidante, Vera Steimberg. You are of the highest class of insanity, integrity and unconditional love for your craft. And I just love you all. I love you. Oh my God, I’m getting a countdown. F—, f—, f—!”
While the slip-up may have caught some off guard, it only added to the authenticity of what the actress was feeling in a very real, and human moment.
Zoe Saldaña has also earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Academy Awards. She’s up against Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, and Isabella Rossellini for the Conclave.
The 97th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC and available for streaming on Hulu.
