Independent Spirit Awards 2026: Ego Nwodim’s Finest Moments

Ego Nwodim poked enjoyable at Cher mistakenly naming the late Luther Vandross a winner at this 12 months’s Grammys throughout her 2026 Independent Spirit Awards monologue.

The former Saturday Night Live hosted the Spirit Awards on the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, main the present for her first time. After strolling by way of the theater and taking the stage, Nwodim famous that “there’s a lot of incredible films nominated this year.”

“A couple of them actually take place over the course of a single day,” she added, citing the Keke Palmer and SZA-starring One of Them Days.

“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 bad guy thrown in jail,” Nwodim mentioned. “Apparently, even in movies, Black women have to do twice as much. That shit ain’t right.”

“But here’s the thing, I can change that. I’m gonna make a movie called Ego Nwodim’s Day,” Nwodim continued, occurring to reference the second when Cher offered the Grammy for document of the 12 months to Luther Vandross, as an alternative of Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

“I’m gonna shoot it on my iPhone and it’s just gonna be me in an Epsom salt bubble bath with some candles listening to Luther Vandross,” she mentioned. “And when y’all give me my award, I hope it’s Cher who presents it to me, because I’d love to hear her try to say my name.”

At the 2026 Grammy Awards, the “Dark Lady” singer was offered with a lifetime achievement award, and he or she mistakenly walked off the stage after accepting the dignity and earlier than she was slated to current the document of the 12 months class.

Once she returned, she flubbed the title of the winner, unintentionally saying Luther Vandross, seemingly mixing up the late R&B singer’s title with the title of Lamar and SZA‘s track “luther.” Cher wasn’t fully off base as “Luther” is called for the R&B icon and samples his and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 music, “If This World Were Mine,” although it nonetheless made for fairly the second.

At the tip of her Spirit Awards monologue, Nwodim subliminally addressed the “incredibly heartbreaking times” of the second, sharing reward for the attendees on the Hollywood Palladium, “who have dedicated your lives to locking in instead of tuning out.”

“It may feel impossible to see the light right now, but I’m deeply grateful to all of you for helping us understand who we are in the midst of chaos,” she mentioned, persevering with, “And reminding us of what we can achieve with just a little bit of empathy and bravery, because you all are making this art that you shot in those few days with only that amount of money proves that together we are capable of ennobling light, joy and truth.”

Ahead of Sunday’s awards ceremony, the previous Saturday Night Live star advised The Hollywood Reporter she “love[s] the freedom in independent film, and I love any movie that is either heartbreaking or has an ending that leaves you with a lot of questions.” She additionally cited If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Lurker as tasks that stood out to her from the 12 months.

The Spirit Awards had been held on the Hollywood Palladium for the primary time this 12 months. The ceremony streamed reside on the Film Independent and IMDb YouTube channels.

Heading into the 2026 Spirit Awards, Peter Hujar’s Day topped the nominations listing for the movie sector with 5 complete noms whereas Adolescence, Forever and Mr Loverman led with 4 nominations every for tv.

See all of the sparkly purple carpet seems to be right here and the total 2026 Spirit Awards winners listing right here.