Even though Brad Pitt wasn’t physically present at the BAFTAs (due to family obligations), it didn’t stop him from leaving every single person present at the award ceremony in splits.
The Fight Club actor won Best Supporting Actor for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and asked his co-star Margot Robbie to receive the award on behalf of him and deliver his hilariously witty award acceptance speech.
Pitt just had to joke about Brexit an Prince Harry, putting Robbie in the spot as she had to read them in front of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge laughed and took it in stride.
The speech started off with a Brexit joke. “Brad couldn’t be here tonight due to family obligations, so he asked me to read his response for him,” Robbie began reading. “He starts by saying, ‘Hey Britain. Heard you just became single. Welcome to the club! Wishing you the best for the divorce settlement, blah blah blah.’ He then says, ‘Thank you to the Academy for this extreme honor.’ He says he’s ‘always been a bit intimidated over here given the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the titans that have come before, so this is especially meaningful.'” Pitt then gave thanked his team, especially the director Tarantino.
As they say ‘save the best for the last’, Brad’s joke on Prince Harry crept on the audience out of nowhere. Robbie read, “He’s gonna name this [BAFTA] Harry, because he’s really excited about bringing it back to the States with him. His words, not mine, thanks!”(At the 1:40 mark) The joke sounded like a reference to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to split their time between the UK and North America since they’ve stepped back from royal duties.
The camera straightaway panned to Prince William and Kate Middleton to capture their immediate reaction (At 1:55 mark). The Duke and Duchess took it sportingly and laughed it off, like everybody else in the audience.