{"id":478177,"date":"2026-02-16T08:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478177\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:42:07","slug":"ego-nwodim-monologue-pitches-menace-ii-society-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478177\/","title":{"rendered":"Ego Nwodim Monologue Pitches ‘Menace II Society’ Sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn her first outing as host of the Independent Spirit Awards<\/a>, SNL alum Ego Nwodim<\/a> dedicated her politics-free opening monologue to covering a wide range of topics, even finding time to pitch a Menace II Society sequel and give out her own personal award to one of Ben Affleck\u2019s past films.<\/p>\n

\n\tJoking that the event feels \u201clike the Bad Bunny bowl,\u201d Nwodim officially kicked off her monologue after traipsing on camera through the entirety of the Hollywood Palladium. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am getting my steps in,\u201d the comedian joked. \u201cShould have worn my damn Fitbit. This is a long walk, for real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim continued, \u201cWelcome to the 41st annual Film Independent Spirit Awards<\/a>. What a gorgeous day it is to be inside at an awards show, and how fitting it is for a room full of indie filmmakers. The only time y\u2019all are getting sun is when you need it for b-roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUrging the filmmakers in the room to \u201cget out of that editing bay every once in a while,\u201d as they\u2019re looking \u201cVitamin D deficient,\u201d she joked, \u201cI cannot relate because I\u2019m getting D all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut you know what they say,\u201d Nwodim continued. \u201cIf you look a little sick, the movie gonna hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNoting that this is the first installment of the Spirit Awards to take place at the Palladium in 32 years, Nwodim shared, \u201cIn the spirit of independent filmmaking, we don\u2019t have a permit. So I need everyone to stay alert, act casual, and move fast. If I shout \u2018Cameras down,\u2019 y\u2019all know what to do: Scatter and look like you\u2019re waiting for the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor some in the room, she said, \u201cthat might be the hardest role of your career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe last time the Spirit Awards came to Hollywood, Nwodim said, was 1994 \u2014 the year Menace II Society won for best cinematography. \u201cYou know, I actually wrote a sequel to Menace II Society, but nobody wants to greenlight it,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd no, it\u2019s not Menace III Society; I\u2019m not a dumbass. It\u2019s Menace II Society 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim \u201cfigured this would be a good room to pitch to\u201d because \u201cA lot of y\u2019all got that Nobu money. As in if someone asks you if you got money, you say, \u2018No, boo.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPivoting to discussion of the films nominated, Nwodim noted a theme \u2014 that multiple take place in the course of one day. \u201cIn Peter Hujar\u2019s Day, Ben Whishaw takes eight phone calls and does a photo shoot. But in One of Them Days, Keke Palmer and SZA raced through L.A. to hunt down a mistress, apply for a loan, donate blood, get stuck on a telephone pole, get evicted, escape a fire, and get a bas guy thrown in jail,\u201d she explained. \u201cApparently, even in movies, Black women have to do twice as much. That shit ain\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim said she plans to rectify that, however, when she makes her movie Ego Nwodim\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m going to shoot it on my iPhone and it\u2019s just going to be me in an Epsom salt bubble bath with some candles listening to Luther Vandross,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd when y\u2019all give me my award, I hope it\u2019s Cher who presents it to me because I\u2019d love to hear her try to say my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t(Nwodim was referring to a recent incident at the Grammys, when Cher accidentally announced Luther Vandross as winner of Record of the Year.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love when movies have an independent spirit, but that\u2019s where I draw the line,\u201d Nwodim said subsequently. \u201cAn independent spirit is not what I\u2019m looking for in a man, okay? I don\u2019t want an indie darling. I\u2019m looking for a big-budget blockbuster to put in this box office. Damn, it\u2019s been a long time since I had a box office smash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn any case, Nwodim said, pivoting back to the films, she was impressed by the \u201cincredible projects\u201d of the last year that \u201ctackled heart-wrenching, gut-punching topics like searching for hope in dark times, rebuilding after tragedy, and most importantly, how awkward it can be for white guys to make friends with other white guys.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim thanked Andrew DeYoung, director of A24\u2019s Tim Robinson comedy Friendship, for \u201cholding space\u201d for the latter topic.<\/p>\n

\n\tContinued the host, \u201cIt was incredible to see the work of everyone in this room today, especially those I was less familiar with, which was honestly all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, this isn\u2019t anyone\u2019s fault, she clarified, as \u201cthere\u2019s only one movie I really truly love \u2014 and that\u2019s Ben Affleck\u2019s The Town.\u201c<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim was disappointed to see The Town snubbed at today\u2019s ceremony, despite it being a major stuio film that came out in 2010. So she decided to take matters into her own hands, giving The Town a new award for Best Movie None of Y\u2019All Made.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSince nobody knew this was happening and Rebecca Hall is here for other movies, I will be accepting on its behalf. Rebecca, girl, we did it!\u201d said Nwodim.<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim went on to reiterate that she has \u201cso much respect for the creators\u201d in the room, who are \u201cmaking art just for the love of it, which is the only way to do it nowadays because this industry is a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, she joked, \u201cI saw a 12-year-old snatching wigs off ladies\u2019 heads on TikTok, and one week later, that same little boy was cast in the new season of White Lotus. Meanwhile, I\u2019m over here learning Meisner \u2014 and for what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSeriously though,\u201d Nwodim continued, \u201cwe are truly living through some incredibly heartbreaking times, but it is deeply inspiring to be amongst artists like all of you who have dedicated your lives to locking in instead of tuning out. So thank you all. It may feel impossible to see the light right now, but I\u2019m deeply grateful to all of you for helping us understand who we are in the midst of chaos and reminding us of what we can achieve with just a little bit of empathy and bravery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThrowing back to an earlier joke in winding down, the host said, \u201cI say all of that to say, \u2018Cameras down!\u2019 See, that was a test. Told y\u2019all to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNwodim takes over the reins as Spirit Awards host from her fellow SNL alum Aidy Bryant, who hosted the last two editions. Peter Hujar\u2019s Day, Ira Sachs\u2019 drama centered on conversations between the eponymous photographer and writer Linda Rosenkrantz, leads all films in nominations with five. We were first to report on the ceremony moving to the Palladium from its longtime hub in Santa Monica amid renovations for the 2028 Olympics, which are set to take place in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In her first outing as host of the Independent Spirit Awards, SNL alum Ego Nwodim dedicated her politics-free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75019,75,193804,193805],"class_list":{"0":"post-478177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-ego-nwodim","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-independent-spirit-awards","14":"tag-spirit-awards"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}