“Adolescence” star Stephen Graham may have been one of the big winners of the 2026 Golden Globes on Sunday, but it’s his acceptance speech — and the unexpected person he decided to call out in it, namely Queen Latifah — that’s keeping folks highly entertained.
Suggested Reading
As we told you before, Graham’s profile in America was raised in large part because of the aforementioned, critically acclaimed British Netflix show that earned him a Primetime Emmy for Lead Actor in September 2025. During his acceptance speech at that time is when he shocked the world and revealed that he was “mixed race,” with later research confirming that Graham has a Jamaican grandfather and grew up with a Black stepfather.
So it’s no wonder why, four months later, as he was accepting yet another award for his role–he tapped into his Black side and decided to shoutout and respectfully bow down to one of the most famous Black actors in the room out of everyone: Queen Latifah.
And to make it even better, Queen was seated in close proximity to other major stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn but only she was seemingly worthy enough of the public recognition to Graham in that moment.
As you might expect, once that moment started circulating on social media, many were extremely tickled at Graham’s understandable fangirl moment. Some users online even went so far to say they would’ve done the same thing given how iconic Queen Latifah is.
“Stephen Graham stopping in the middle of his speech to acknowledge Queen Latifah in the crowd was hilarious and understandable!” said another.
“Not Stephen Graham fangirling over Queen Latifah looooool, he’s so real for that,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
Added another: “He gagged over Queen Latifah… IKTR she’s literally our nation’s Queen.”
One other user noted, “It’s really funny and cute that out of all celebrities at the Golden Globes watching him win an award, Stephen Graham was specifically star struck by Queen Latifah.”
To make matters even more hilarious, as “Pluribus” actress Rhea Seehorn was accepting her award for Best Actress in a TV Drama, she also took the time to acknowledge Queen, who was standing to the side of the stage as a presenter.
“Queen Latifah, I met you about 20 years ago, between jobs at a Koo Koo Roo, and you were so nice. So thanks,” she said in part.
What can we say, when a queen walks in a room, you must act accordingly and thankfully both Graham and Seehorn understood the assignment!
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.