Host Mike Birbiglia shocked and delighted the audience with his opening monologue at the IFP Gotham Awards Monday night when it slowly became apparent that he was reciting honoree-of-the-evening David O. Russell’s notorious tirade against Lily Tomlin from the set of I Heart Huckabees. “I’m just trying to fucking help you, you understand me?†Birbiglia mock-snarled. “I’m just being a fucking collaborator! I’m trying to help you figure out the fucking picture, okay, bitch? I’m not here to be fucking yelled at! I haven’t been working on this thing for three fucking years to have some fucking cunt yell at me in front of the crew! I’m trying to help you, bitch!’â€
With Russell sitting only a few feet away, the cheeky host then said, “I was just fired.†But the Silver Linings Playbook director — who was on hand to receive a career tribute award — turned out to have developed a sense of humor about the embarrassing Tomlin meltdown. “It’s old news!†he told Vulture with a smile. “What are you going to do? I take it in good fun. You have to laugh at your mistakes.â€
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Meanwhile, back onstage, a Russell clip reel had just been shown, and Birbiglia pronounced himself moved — but unrepentant about his earlier gag. “The reel was really inspiring and wonderful,†he told the crowd, “and my joke was excellent. One of my favorite directors. I love my joke, I love his movies, thank you very much!†Off in the winners’ room, Russell was also looking back over his career and saying he wished he had made Huckabees a little more emotional, and made Three Kings with “a little less action, a little more personal stuff. That’s something I wish I could go back and do now.â€
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Birbiglia ran into Vulture after the show and explained himself. “Why did I want to use [Russell’s rant]? There are only a few filmmakers that people are familiar with, in an independent film setting,†he said. “You can make jokes about … David O. Russell, because he’s wildly popular. And I love his films. So it just seemed like a good thing to joke about.â€