Beginning with a Golden Globes speech that criticized taking private jets to Palm Springs, something many of his fellow nominees had done just days earlier, Joaquin Phoenix has earned a reputation this season for acceptance speeches that go there. But he outdid himself with his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs on Sunday night, where he took home yet another best actor statue for his role in Joker—and devoted almost his entire speech to criticizing this year’s all-white slate of nominees:

“The BAFTAS have already been very supportive of my career and I’m deeply appreciative. But I have to say I also feel conflicted, because so many of my fellow actors that are deserving don’t have that same privilege,” he began, speaking to a crowd that included fellow Oscar nominees Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce, Saoirse Ronan, and more. “I think that we send a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here. i think that’s the message that we’re sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry and in ways that we benefit from.”

He continued, “This is not a self righteous condemnation, because I’m ashamed to say that I’m part of the problem. I have not done everything in my power to ensure that the sets I work on are inclusive. but I think it’s more than just having sets that are multicultural. I think that we have to really do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism.”

The audience, which was stone-silent and attentive throughout the speech, broke into applause as Phoenix reached the end: “I think that it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it, so that’s on us.”

Phoenix was far from the first person to criticize the lack of diversity among this year’s BAFTA nominees, but he’s done it on the biggest stage. Nearly as soon as the nominations were announced on January 7, the chair of BAFTA’s film committee Marc Samuelson called it an “infuriating lack of diversity in the acting noms.” A similar outcry happened a few days later with the Oscar nominations, when Cynthia Erivo was the lone actor of color nominated. Erivo also declined to perform at the BAFTAs, saying, “I work hard and every single person of color who is working in these films this year has worked really hard, and there are many of them who deserve to be celebrated.” Speaking to Vanity Fair’s Little Gold Men podcast last week, Erivo said no one from the BAFTAs has reached out to her since her decision not to perform. “It's not my job to reach out to them,” she said. “If they want some change, they should start reaching out to people and being the change that they seek, but they haven't got to that.”

Both Erivo and Phoenix will be in attendance at the Oscars next week, where Phoenix is the odds-on favorite to win best actor and Erivo, a best actress nominee, is guaranteed take the stage to perform her nominated song “Stand Up” from Harriet. If you’re looking for Oscar night moments that move the needle, you might want to look out for both of them.

More Great Stories from Vanity Fair

— Vanity Fair’s 2020 Hollywood cover is here with Eddie Murphy, Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez & more

— Who would defend Harvey Weinstein?

— Oscar nominations 2020: what went wrong—and did anything go right?

— Greta Gerwig on the lives of Little Women—and why “male violence” isn’t all that matters

— Jennifer Lopez on giving her all to Hustlers and breaking the mold

— How Antonio Banderas changed his life after nearly losing it

— From the Archive: A look at the J. Lo phenomenon

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.