Transcript (en)

It's an honor to be here with you tonight. I'd like to begin by offering my sincere thanks to His Excellency, Turki Ali Sheikh, to the General Entertainment Authority, and of course, to the Joy Awards. Receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award invites reflection. It asks you to look back, not just at the work, but at the journey. When I do that, I'm taken back to when I was a child, a time when I curiously saw the world was shaped by the images that I had taught. I learned about people beyond my own community from the backstage of my family's car, watching movies at local drive-in theaters. Those stories opened doors, showed me lives I had lived, and dreams I hadn't considered. Tonight, as I humbly accept this honor, I'm reminded to look for joy, to protect and share it through art, through the ways we show up for one another. Each of us can help create a world that is more peaceful, more tolerant, and yes, more joyous. Thank you for opening up the door to me here so that I may be able to discover the people, so that I may be able to discover this place. It's an extraordinary collaboration to connect between souls. I felt the connection here when I came and I'm really excited to carry that with me as I go away. I grant you beauty. I thank you.