Succession star Brian Cox slams Putin, speaks up in support of Ukraine and Russian artists

The cast of Succession took home the trophy for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. During the acceptance speech, the show's star Brian Cox addressed the ongoing Ukraine-Russian war as he slammed Putin and defended Ukraine and Russian artists.

It is the fifth day since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine. The heavy fighting and airstrikes across the country has killed at least 352 civilians there. There has been no shortage of support for Ukraine from celebrities across the world. In fact, during the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, many stars turned up wearing yellow and blue accessories to express solidarity with Ukraine facing invasion by Russia. Among them, Brian Cox made a stirring speech on stage when his show Succession won the SAG Award for Ensemble in a Drama Series. As he accepted the award on behalf of the HBO series, the actor condemened the ongoing armed crisis in Ukraine and how it's affecting fellow artists both there and in Russia.

Brian Cox started his acceptance speech by thanking the show's writers, his fellow cast members and the casting department. Later, he said, “It’s truly, truly awful. Really, really awful, what’s happening. And It’s particularly awful in terms of what is affecting the other people, particularly in our profession,” referencing how the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was a comic performer before he took political office. “The president of Ukraine was a comic. He was a wonderful comic performer. And we should respect that for him. And to come to the presidency was amazing," he said.

Brian then expressed sympathy for the people living in Russia. "The thing that's really distressed me is what's happening in Russia to my fellow actors and actresses and performers, and critics. They are told under pain of high treason that they cannot say a word about Ukraine. And I think that is pretty awful. I think we should all stand together and also for those people in Russia who do not like what's going on, particularly the artists. I think we should really join in celebrating them and hoping they can actually make a shift, as I believe they can.”

Watch the video below:

The cast of @succession takes home the Actor® for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series #sagawards pic.twitter.com/frW546KySF

Created by Jesse Armstrong, the show Succession centers on the dysfunctional Roy family, led by Logan Roy (Cox). The series is essentially about his privileged children jockeying for power and control. The members of the cast who were honored Sunday night include - Cox, Strong, Culkin, Snook, Ruck, Nicholas Braun (Greg), Matthew Macfadyen (Tom), J Smith-Cameron (Gerri), Peter Friedman (Frank), Juliana Canfield (Jess), Dagmara Dominczyk (Karolina), Jihae (Berry), Dasa Nekrasova (Comfrey), Scott Nicholson (Colin), David Rasche (Karl), Fisher Steven (Hugo), and Zoë Winters (Kerry).