This morning, Hopkins posted a delayed Oscars acceptance speech to his social media accounts. “Here I am in my homeland in Wales,” Hopkins said in his social media acceptance speech. “At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn’t. I’m very grateful to the Academy – thank you. I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. Again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, I feel very privileged and honored, thank you.”

Had Hopkins been able to give that speech at the Oscars telecast, the entire broadcast might have been easier to digest. It appeared that the even the Academy and the producers expected Boseman to win Best Actor, which meant the telecast would conclude with a tribute to the late icon. When he didn’t, and Hopkins was absent, the ceremony ended with a splat. “Everything about that was a bummer,” IndieWire senior film critic David Ehrlich wrote on Twitter. “Oscars fucked up big time not saving Best Picture for last. Boseman doesn’t get the tribute he deserves, and Hopkins gets a ‘what the fuck just happened?’ moment for the single best performance of his entire career.” Film critic Robert Daniels added, “It wasn’t just the Chadwick loss. It was the back-to-back losses by two Black actors who were touted as front runners in lead categories. It perpetuated the history of voters favoring white performers in lead categories, and absolving voters of that isn’t the route I’d take.” IndieWire’s Ben Travers wrote in his review of the Oscars 2021 ceremony that the Academy could have saved face by allowing Hopkins to attend via Zoom, adding, “Had the producers been a bit more flexible on virtual acceptance speeches, perhaps the graceful and generous Hopkins could have said something about Mr. Boseman, sharing his stage with the man who means so much to so many people.” The win made Hopkins the oldest Best Actor winner in Oscars history. Hopkins previously won the Best Actor prize for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs.” Watch Hopkins’ delayed Oscars acceptance speech for Best Actor in the video below.

  A post shared by Anthony Hopkins (@anthonyhopkins)

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) April 26, 2021

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— Matt Brennan (@thefilmgoer) April 26, 2021

— Robert Daniels (@812filmreviews) April 26, 2021

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) April 26, 2021

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