Ego Nwodim poked fun at Cher mistakenly naming the late Luther Vandross a winner at this year’s Grammys during her 2026 Independent Spirit Awards monologue.
The former Saturday Night Live hosted the Spirit Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, leading the show for her first time. After walking through the theater and taking the stage, Nwodim noted that “there’s a lot of incredible films nominated this year.”
“A couple of them actually take place over the course of a single day,” she added, citing the Keke Palmer and SZA-starring One of Them Days.
“In One of Them Days, Keke Palmer and SZA raced through L.A. to hunt down a mistress, apply for a loan, donate blood, get stuck on a telephone pole, get evicted, escape a fire and get a bad guy thrown in jail,” Nwodim said. “Apparently, even in movies, Black women have to do twice as much. That shit ain’t right.”
“But here’s the thing, I can change that. I’m gonna make a movie called Ego Nwodim’s Day,” Nwodim continued, going on to reference the moment when Cher presented the Grammy for record of the year to Luther Vandross, instead of Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
“I’m gonna shoot it on my iPhone and it’s just gonna be me in an Epsom salt bubble bath with some candles listening to Luther Vandross,” she said. “And when y’all give me my award, I hope it’s Cher who presents it to me, because I’d love to hear her try to say my name.”
At the 2026 Grammy Awards, the “Dark Lady” singer was presented with a lifetime achievement award, and she mistakenly walked off the stage after accepting the honor and before she was slated to present the record of the year category.
Once she returned, she flubbed the name of the winner, accidentally announcing Luther Vandross, seemingly mixing up the late R&B singer’s name with the title of Lamar and SZA‘s track “luther.” Cher wasn’t entirely off base as “Luther” is named for the R&B icon and samples his and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 song, “If This World Were Mine,” though it still made for quite the moment.
At the end of her Spirit Awards monologue, Nwodim subliminally addressed the “incredibly heartbreaking times” of the moment, sharing praise for the attendees at the Hollywood Palladium, “who have dedicated your lives to locking in instead of tuning out.”
“It may feel impossible to see the light right now, but I’m deeply grateful to all of you for helping us understand who we are in the midst of chaos,” she said, continuing, “And reminding us of what we can achieve with just a little bit of empathy and bravery, because you all are making this art that you shot in those few days with only that amount of money proves that together we are capable of ennobling light, joy and truth.”
Ahead of Sunday’s awards ceremony, the former Saturday Night Live star told The Hollywood Reporter she “love[s] the freedom in independent film, and I love any movie that is either heartbreaking or has an ending that leaves you with a lot of questions.” She also cited If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Lurker as projects that stood out to her from the year.
The Spirit Awards were held at the Hollywood Palladium for the first time this year. The ceremony streamed live on the Film Independent and IMDb YouTube channels.
Heading into the 2026 Spirit Awards, Peter Hujar’s Day topped the nominations list for the film sector with five total noms while Adolescence, Forever and Mr Loverman led with four nominations each for television.
See all the sparkly red carpet looks here and the full 2026 Spirit Awards winners list here.
