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The Internet’s favourite Oscars acceptance speech

17 Feb The Internet’s favourite Oscars acceptance speech

New research reveals that Leonardo DiCaprio has the most-viewed Oscar’s acceptance speech of all time.

The study conducted by casino experts MapleCasino examined the verified Oscars YouTube account to reveal the most-viewed Acadamy Award acceptance speeches, to establish the Internet’s favourite Oscar speeches ahead of this year’s ceremony.

The research revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio has the most-viewed Oscar acceptance speech in history. After multiple nominations, DiCaprio finally won his long-awaited ‘Best Actor’ Acadamy Award in 2016 for his role in The Revenant, attracting more than 47 million views on YouTube. The Hollywood actor used his speech to address critical issues, highlighting the threat of climate change and the damaging effects of big polluters, telling the audience to “not take this planet for granted.”

Matthew McConaughey has the second most popular Oscars acceptance speech, with more than 26 million views on YouTube. The Dallas Buyer’s Club actor won his ‘Best Actor’ award in 2014 – beating the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale – and delivered a passionate talk thanking God, his family and colleagues, before finishing his speech with his signature phrase, “alright, alright, alright”.

With more than 21 million views, the Internet’s third favourite Oscar acceptance speech goes to Heath Ledger. As one of the most emotional speeches of all time, the late Heath Ledger won ‘Best Supporting Actor’ in 2009 for his role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Due to Heath Ledger’s sudden death the year before, his family accepted the award on his behalf, going down in history as one of the most memorable award acceptance speeches of all time.

Kate Winslet has the fourth most popular Oscar’s acceptance speech, in addition to the most-watched speech for a ‘Best Actress’ winner. Kate Winslet won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Reader in 2009, beating the likes of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. The actress struggled to hold back her emotions during her evocative speech, which has now received more than 17 million views.

The findings revealed that Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar acceptance speech is the fifth most popular on record for her 2013 ‘Best Actress’ award for Silver Linings Playbook. Jennifer Lawrence will go down in Oscars history, sadly not for her speech, but for her fall up the Academy steps on her way to collect her award, which has now received more than 14.5 million views on YouTube.

Additionally, Marlon Brando’s acceptance speech also features as one of the Internet’s favourites, placing eighth overall, making it the oldest acceptance speech in the ranking. Receiving the ‘Best Actor’ award for his role in The Godfather, Brando’s 1973 speech has more than 11 million YouTube views, despite him not making an appearance. During the iconic speech, actress and Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather spoke on Brando’s behalf, protesting the treatment of Native Americans in the film industry.

A spokesperson for MapleCasino commented on the findings: “From Kate Winslet’s emotional speech to Leonardo DiCaprio’s political address, acceptance speeches can be used to not only celebrate wins but also as a vital platform to voice political and social change. The Internet celebrated when DiCaprio won his well-deserved Academy Award back in 2016, delivering such a powerful speech that it still sparks interest today.

As a keen environmental activist, DiCaprio used his platform to call attention to the detrimental effects of climate change, which now has close to double the number of views of Matthew McConaughey’s speech.”