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CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Wanda Sykes delivers epic 26-minute acceptance speech
Wanda Sykes closed the night in typical bombastic and hilarious fashion at the Critics Choice Association's Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on Friday night in Los Angeles, delivering an impromptu speech that ran the gamut from community organizing to admitting she hasn't seen the Amazon Prime show 'Etoile.' Sykes was awarded the last trophy of the evening, for career achievement, wrapping a show that saw other LGBTQ-identifying stars acknowledged for their work over the past year, including Nathan Lee Graham from 'Mid-Century Modern' and the cast of 'Somebody Somewhere.' As Sykes began her speech, she held onto one of the cards that was on every table at the event, listing the evening's winners. She joked that she should have stopped drinking by the time Liv Hewson – who was awarded a rising star statuette for their work on 'Yellowjackets' toward the middle of the evening – came onstage. Admitting she had not written a prepared speech – 'I didn't know it was going to be this big of a deal,' she quipped – Sykes then proceeded to go down the list of winners and mention every single one, including her 'Other Two' costar Gideon Glick, who was recognized for his supporting work on 'Etoile' (Glick's win was bittersweet; while it was his birthday and the entire room broke out into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for him, news broke mere hours before the award show began that 'Etoile' has been canceled after one season). 'I didn't watch the show,' Sykes jokingly admitted on stage after talking about how much she loved Glick's speech earlier, in which he reminisced about his mother's acceptance of him when he came out at 12 and some of the struggles he later faced as a working LGBTQ+ actor. Sykes – who was recognized for her work in standup and as a film and television actor – also called out CCA award-winners Megan Stalter of 'Hacks' and 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Bowen Yang, both of whom she thanked for being unapologetically, and hilariously, themselves. About Sasheer Zamata – who won a breakthrough performance award for her work on 'Agatha All Along' and mentioned during her speech that she came out as queer last year – Sykes joked that she knew the former 'SNL' cast member was queer before Zamata did. Toward the end of her speech, Sykes addressed the reality TV award winners of the night, the Season 17 drag queens of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' calling the show a 'staple.' 'Y'all were out there making noise for us before all of this,' Sykes said, gesturing to the event, before adding, 'Drag queens have always been the leaders, the fighters.' Finally, Sykes shouted out Niecy Nash-Betts, who had been awarded the groundbreaker award just before her, joking that the 'the LGBTQ+ community is such fire, that we got a new member, we got Niecy!' She also thanked Nash-Betts' wife Jessica Betts 'for doing your job.' (Nash-Betts and Betts got married in 2020.) To conclude her speech, Sykes addressed the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, but also said that protecting the trans segment of the community is 'our fight,' since 'they are getting their asses kicked right now.' 'We just got to love hard. So that means you gotta be proud, you gotta be loud, we have to protect our trans brothers and sisters,' she said. 'Thats our next movement.'
CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Wanda Sykes delivers epic 26-minute acceptance speech
Wanda Sykes closed the night in typical bombastic and hilarious fashion at the Critics Choice Association's Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on Friday night in Los Angeles, delivering an impromptu speech that ran the gamut from community organizing to admitting she hasn't seen the Amazon Prime show 'Etoile.' Sykes was awarded the last trophy of the evening, for career achievement, wrapping a show that saw other LGBTQ-identifying stars acknowledged for their work over the past year, including Nathan Lee Graham from 'Mid-Century Modern' and the cast of 'Somebody Somewhere.' As Sykes began her speech, she held onto one of the cards that was on every table at the event, listing the evening's winners. She joked that she should have stopped drinking by the time Liv Hewson – who was awarded a rising star statuette for their work on 'Yellowjackets' toward the middle of the evening – came onstage. Admitting she had not written a prepared speech – 'I didn't know it was going to be this big of a deal,' she quipped – Sykes then proceeded to go down the list of winners and mention every single one, including her 'Other Two' costar Gideon Glick, who was recognized for his supporting work on 'Etoile' (Glick's win was bittersweet; while it was his birthday and the entire room broke out into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for him, news broke mere hours before the award show began that 'Etoile' has been canceled after one season). 'I didn't watch the show,' Sykes jokingly admitted on stage after talking about how much she loved Glick's speech earlier, in which he reminisced about his mother's acceptance of him when he came out at 12 and some of the struggles he later faced as a working LGBTQ+ actor. Sykes – who was recognized for her work in standup and as a film and television actor – also called out CCA award-winners Megan Stalter of 'Hacks' and 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Bowen Yang, both of whom she thanked for being unapologetically, and hilariously, themselves. About Sasheer Zamata – who won a breakthrough performance award for her work on 'Agatha All Along' and mentioned during her speech that she came out as queer last year – Sykes joked that she knew the former 'SNL' cast member was queer before Zamata did. Toward the end of her speech, Sykes addressed the reality TV award winners of the night, the Season 17 drag queens of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' calling the show a 'staple.' 'Y'all were out there making noise for us before all of this,' Sykes said, gesturing to the event, before adding, 'Drag queens have always been the leaders, the fighters.' Finally, Sykes shouted out Niecy Nash-Betts, who had been awarded the groundbreaker award just before her, joking that the 'the LGBTQ+ community is such fire, that we got a new member, we got Niecy!' She also thanked Nash-Betts' wife Jessica Betts 'for doing your job.' (Nash-Betts and Betts got married in 2020.) To conclude her speech, Sykes addressed the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, but also said that protecting the trans segment of the community is 'our fight,' since 'they are getting their asses kicked right now.' 'We just got to love hard. So that means you gotta be proud, you gotta be loud, we have to protect our trans brothers and sisters,' she said. 'Thats our next movement.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saks Joins Amazon in Designer Fashion Breakthrough
Did Saks just help Amazon crack the luxury code? Maybe. More from WWD Saks Bondholders Prove to Be a Tough Sell Gideon Glick Brings a Choreographer's Vision to Life in 'Étoile' White House Calls Amazon's Reported Tariff Transparency Plans a 'Hostile and Political Act' The internet's everything store has been looking to break into high-end fashion for years, but it's had only limited success outside of beauty, where it is now making headway in prestige. Now designer fashion is coming to the e-commerce giant in a much more substantial way with the launch of Saks on Amazon, a storefront on Amazon's Luxury Stores platform. While Luxury Stores was introduced with much fanfare in 2020 — marking Amazon's big push into high-end fashion — only a few top-tier brands, like Oscar de la Renta, joined up. Saks is changing that now with its storefront, which will launch with looks from Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, Etro, Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli, Erdem, Fear of God, Jason Wu Collection, Rosetta Getty and Johanna Ortiz, as well as Chantecaille and La Prairie in skin care. Amazon had millions of searches for those brands last year, showing both the potential of the Amazon customer base and a breadth that can be scary in luxury, where a tight focus on a select few can be a powerful statement. In the months ahead, more brands are set to launch on the Saks storefront, which will carry a selection of women's and men's ready-to-wear, beauty, shoes, handbags and accessories curated by Saks. The storefront will be refreshed regularly and, at launch, will feature a series of shoppable digital 'windows' to show off the product. Those windows will be replicated in the real world at Saks' New York flagship on Fifth Avenue. The launch will also be hyped in a 'Saks Arrives on Amazon' campaign created by Saks and directed by Emmy-award winning director Max Siedentopf. The campaign includes six vignettes that the companies said play up 'unique, idiosyncratic moments of Saks luxury products arriving at home' — including Stella McCartney Ryder bags hanging from umbrellas and floating down from the sky. 'Unique' and 'idiosyncratic' could also apply to the pairing of Saks and Amazon. 'At Amazon, we love these peculiar matchings and it actually has been an amazing partnership,' said Jenny Freshwater, who runs Amazon's fashion business and is vice president of fashion and fitness. 'From our perspective, we are bringing the customer experience and the technology innovation that we've grown accustomed to at Amazon,' Freshwater said. 'Saks is able to bring the brands and the selection and that luxury experience and the elevation. 'While it might've seemed like an unusual pairing on paper, it has been a really interesting and wonderful partnership. And this is really just the beginning where we're evolving, we always listen to customers. This is no different. We'll get a lot of feedback and continue to evolve that experience alongside of Saks.' Orders will be fulfilled by Saks, but customer service will be handled by Amazon's Luxury Stores. Amazon will also handle returns. 'We are constantly trying to increase our selection for our customer,' Freshwater said. 'We know customers like breadth and depth and this is just another step toward that strategy. 'I had the opportunity to go to fashion weeks in Paris and Milan this cycle,' she said. 'And as you talk to brands, I think it's one of the things that is most exciting — it's bringing that Amazon customer, the vast customer base, to luxury but also what we can do in terms of innovating in the luxury space to make experiences that are more shoppable and more delightful.' While Saks is starting out on Amazon with a tight selection of designer brands, it remains to be seen how the storefront performs and changes. Emily Essner, Saks' president and chief commercial officer, said: 'I think only the consumer will tell us. We are just excited to get it out, get it out in the world and watch the customer engage and be able to evolve everything as we go.' Certainly there are two willing parties in that evolution. Amazon is constantly tweaking its business model and taking big bets on new ideas while Saks is in the midst of a major transformation, integrating Neiman Marcus, an acquisition that Amazon helped pay for last year. Essner said between Saks' luxury expertise and Amazon's customer centricity and speed there was 'something in that alchemy' that finally drew in luxury brands. 'It was the time,' she said. Designer brands have been watching Amazon closely and have shifted from saying they'd never sell on the mammoth platform to watching to see who will take the plunge first and how they fare. 'In the end, our goal is to really work with like-minded brands where we really feel a symbiosis in terms of customers, in terms of fashion, where we can over the long term collectively grow our businesses,' Essner said. Where Saks brings relationships and an intimate understanding of fashion, she said, 'Amazon brings an incredible customer centricity and incredible operational expertise, speed. And so we're really excited to bring those things together and I think now is the time where we were really able to illustrate that value proposition to our brand partners.' Fashion is watching. 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Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saks Arrived on Amazon, the Trade War Is Still on Its Way
There's Amazon's new push into luxury with Saks and then there's the e-commerce company's push even higher — literally into space. Amazon's quarterly updates to Wall Street contain a list of things it's checked off its to-do list. More from WWD Saks Bondholders Prove to Be a Tough Sell Gideon Glick Brings a Choreographer's Vision to Life in 'Étoile' White House Calls Amazon's Reported Tariff Transparency Plans a 'Hostile and Political Act' There were over 25 items checked off with first-quarter results on Thursday, illustrating just how much the company is working on at any given moment and how hard it is for almost any regular retailer to compete, especially with big increases in tariffs working their way through the system. 'We're pleased with the start to 2025, especially our pace of innovation and progress in continuing to improve customer experiences,' said Andy Jassy, president and chief executive officer, in a statement. In between the launch of its first Project Kuiper satellites into low earth orbit and a new AI model that can use a web browser, Amazon tucked in a few fashion updates. The company made a big step forward in its effort to expand into luxury, opening a storefront on its luxury platform for Saks, featuring brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, Giambattista Valli, Erdem and Fear of God. The company also expanded its core selection with goods from Michael Kors, The Ordinary, Laura Mercier and Tarte. Amazon's ability to keep offering new products showed up on its top line. Sales for the first quarter ended March 31 rose 9 percent to $155.7 billion, with North America up 8 percent to $92.9 billion. That powered a 64 percent increase in net profits, to $17.1 billion. Those heavy footsteps approaching the heart of fashion might be Amazon's — if not, it's the immediate impact of President Donald Trump's trade war. Even Amazon will feel the impact of a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, which promises to shortly choke off trade between the world's two largest economies. Jassy told analysts on a conference call: 'We haven't seen any attenuation of demand yet. To some extent, we've seen some heightened buying in certain categories that may indicate stocking up in advance of any potential tariff impact. We also have not seen the average selling price of retail items appreciably go up yet. 'This could change depending on where tariffs settle,' the CEO said. 'Amazon is not uniquely susceptible to tariffs… We also have an extremely large selection, hundreds of millions of unique [stock keeping units], which means we're often able to weather challenging conditions better than others. When there are periods of discontinuity, substantial unexpected product trends emerge. Think about the pandemic when items like masks [and] enhanced sanitizer became big sellers. When you have the broadest selection like we do and 2 million-plus global sellers like we do, you're better positioned to help customers find whatever items matter to them at lower price points than elsewhere.' Best of WWD Harvey Nichols Sees Sales Dip, Losses Widen in Year Marred by Closures Nike Logs $1.3 Billion Profit, But Supply Chain Issues Persist Zegna Shares Start Trading on New York Stock Exchange Sign in to access your portfolio
