The Tony Awards – a ceremony that celebrates Broadway theatre – was held Sunday night and brought some Florida politics along with it. Actress and Sunshine State native Denée Benton likened Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to a “grand wizard” while presenting the Excellence in Theatre Education Award.
The award was presented to Jason Zembuch-Young, the artistic director of South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida. However, it was Denée’s speech that received all the attention.
Denée Benton calls Governor Ron DeSantis the "current grand wizard" of Florida at the #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/O2iEfbOvQO
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 12, 2023
"Earlier tonight, CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) and the Tony Awards presented the 2023 Excellence in Theatre Education Award. And while I am certain that the current Grand Wizard — I’m sorry, excuse me, governor of my home state of Florida will be changing” – (at this point she was broken up by applause). She continued, “I'm sure that he will be changing the name of this following town immediately. We were honored to present this award to the truly incredible and life-changing Jason Zembuch Young, enhancing the lives of students at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida."
This is not the first time Gov. DeSantis has encountered ridicule on a nationally televised award program.
In March of 2022, Gov. DeSantis signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education Bill. Known by some as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the hosts of the Oscars showed their displeasure that night when they declared:
"We're gonna have a great night tonight—and for you people in Florida, we're going to have a gay night."
Oscar hosts address Florida's widely-criticized "don't say gay" bill. https://t.co/1H1Y9jC9bl#oscars pic.twitter.com/6Tmf3RcXAP
— ABC News (@ABC) March 28, 2022
“-and for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”
DeSantis, in response to the clip mentioned above, was asked to give a response to Hollywood’s resentment of the bill. He said this at a press conference following the signing of the legislation.
“There’s even people in Hollywood that are opposed to providing protections for parents and enforcing parent’s rights. You know, the one thing I’ll say about that is if the people who held up degenerates like Harvey Weinstein as exemplars and as heroes and as all that, if those are the types of people that are opposing us on parent’s rights, I wear that like a badge of honor,” DeSantis stated.
The Florida Governor, now a marquee presidential candidate, sits eight points behind former President Donald Trump in the Sunshine State according to a Real Clear Politics poll conducted in early May.
