The one where Jennifer Aniston delivered one of the most charming speeches of the year.
The beloved Friends and Morning Show was honored with the People’s Icon Award at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards on Sunday night, with the seven-time PCA winner taking the stage to accept the award from her longtime friend and co-star Adam Sandler.
Calling the Icon Award an “Incredible honor, “Jennifer began her speech after receiving a standing ovation by saying this: “This town doles out a lot of awards, but the People’s Choice, this was always something special to me. As actors, we don’t do this for the critics or for each other or to make our families proud, we do this for the money,” she said. “I’m kidding…we do it for you guys. C’mon, seriously, we really do.”
As for her reaction when she first learned she would be receiving the honor, Jennifer, 50, joked, “When I had first heard that I had won this Icon Award the first thing I thought was, ‘Holy shnicks, have I been around that long? It turns out I have.”
But really, we’ve all been in love with the superstar for 25 years when a certain TV show debuted in 1994 and launched her career. It’s called Friends…maybe you’ve heard of it?
Saying she only has claim to the word “Icon” because of “an iconic show with an iconic cast and iconic haircut,” Jennifer went on to say, “Friends was truly the gift of a lifetime and I would not be standing up here without that amazing show and those amazing five other actors and with an audience who stuck with us for a decade and through streaming services now, and syndication and I’m sure coming to a watch soon near you or something! But anyway, you believed in us, you really did, and you believed in those very impossible large apartments, but you had to believe it because we were telling our story. But it’s paved the way for everything that I’ve had the chance to do since.”
Fittingly, Jennifer then talked about her new hit series The Morning Show, which marks her first return to TV since saying goodbye to her iconic character Rachel Green and the “Rachel” cut, saying that now she’s “back on television, where it all started and I’m so excited. I’m with another incredible ensemble cast…so thank you for tuning.”
Finally, Jen ended her speech with a final message to her legions of loyal fans, saying, “Thank you for being on this journey with me and I just love you guys. Thank you for sticking by me!”
And we always will, Friend.
Jennifer, who nearly broke the Internet after she joined Instagram last month, is just the second star to receive the honor, with Melissa McCarthy accepting the trophy in 2018.
Aside from starring in one of TV’s most popular and successful series of all-time, Jennifer’s robust resume includes starring in hits like Marley & Me, He’s Just Not That Into You, Horrible Bosses and Just Go With It, as well as flexing her producer muscle with the Netflix film Dumplin’ and The Morning Show, her new Apple TV+ series with Reese Witherspoon.
