'Atlanta' star Lakeith Stanfield crashes Critics' Choice stage, gives acceptance speech for 'Silicon Valley'
Silicon Valley took home the Critics' Choice Award for Best Comedy Series on Sunday night, but it wasAtlanta's Lakeith Stanfield who wanted to say a few words of gratitude.
While Silicon Valley's executive producer, Tom Lassally, made his way way up to the stage, Stanfield got up to the mic even faster, and it was clear no one knew what he was going to say.
"I wanna thank everybody for honoring us in this way," Stanfield said, earnestly. "We worked really hard on Silicon Valley, and here we are. Thank you."
Stanfield, of course, is actually not involved in any way with Silicon Valley, but instead stars as the unpredictable and rather inexplicable Darius on FX's Atlanta, which was one of the shows Silicon Valley beat out for the award.
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After Stanfield exited the stage, presenters Christian Slater and Leslie Mann laughed off the unexpected interruption and allowed Lassally to take the mic, but it was clear the producer was baffled by the incident.
"[I have] no idea who that was," Lassally said, referring to Stanfield, who has recently appeared in such films as Straight Outta Compton, where he played Snoop Dogg, as well as Selma, The Purge: Anarchy, Dope and Short Term 12, which earned him an Independent Spirit Award in 2014, not to mention his lead role in the show Silicon Valley just won over.
Many fans on Twitter were surprised by Stanfield taking the stage, and while no one seemed to understand exactly why he did, many couldn't help but point out that it seemed exactly like something his Atlanta character would do.
%vine-url="https://vine.co/v/5QBhF7xZB0L"%
Yooooo @stanfield_keith just did the most Darius thing ever by taking the mic instead of @SiliconHBO at #CriticsChoicepic.twitter.com/T1UMIgKcY0
— Justin Enriquez (@justinenriquez_) December 12, 2016
Keith Stanfield just interrupted the rep for Silicon Valley at the #CriticsChoiceAwards & it was the most Darius thing ever. #AtlantaFX
— Chelle Soto (@yoitschellesoto) December 12, 2016
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Many others compared the incident to Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift (and years later, Beck) during the 2009 Video Music Awards.
Our boy #KeithStanfield from the show #Atlanta pulled a #KanyeWest at the #CriticsChoiceAwards.... https://t.co/qQnIPwPidR
— theJasmineBRAND.com (@thejasminebrand) December 12, 2016
@Krys Silicon Valley won and Keith Stanfield legit pulled a Kanye and went up the stage
— Nerf This 🐰 (@turiantamales) December 12, 2016
However, unlike West telling everyone someone else deserved the award, Stanfield did deliver a heartfelt acceptance speech on behalf of Silicon Valley, not Atlanta, so the comparisons might not be entirely fair.
Finally, others just felt that Lassally might want to look into Stanfield's short-but-impressive resume.
keith stanfield gate crashed silicon valley winning a critics choice award and sv's ep said "idk who that is" and I'm insulted?
— shadie hawkins (@kaylaahawkins) December 12, 2016
That Silicon Valley guy should probably learn who Keith Stanfield is...
— Sean Temple (@Sean_Temple) December 12, 2016
@stanfield_keith apparently the big bang garbage of @SiliconHBO don't know who you are. Maybe you should tell them #boycottHBO@HBO
— Dear Morons (@mydearmorons) December 12, 2016
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