James Cameron apologizes for “cringe-worthy” Oscar speech

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

James Cameron, who won the Best Director Oscar for 1997’s Titanic, is apologizing for his infamous “I’m the king of the world!” speech given at the 70th Academy Awards, calling it “cringeworthy.”

James Cameron said of his Oscar moment, “I was trying to express the joy and excitement that I was feeling in terms of that movie, and the most joyful moment for the character.” At least he didn’t try to do a sketch of the naked Oscar statue.

Continuing his reflection on that Oscar speech, James Cameron said, “What I learned is, you don’t quote your own movie if you win…Because it’s cringeworthy. It makes the assumption that you didn’t win by a narrow margin but that every single person sitting in the audience on that night at the Kodak Theatre saw and loved Titanic. We’ll never know how much we won by, but it might not have been a landslide at all. I took flack for all 25 years after that, but you know, you live and you learn.” At the time, Cameron said, “I think what was interpreted as arrogance or a big ‘fuck you, I-told-you-so’ wasn’t what was in my head at all.”

At that time–and especially that night–James Cameron was, in fact, the king of the world. Titanic nabbed 14 Academy Award nominations, a record that tied 1950’s All About Eve (it would later be tied again by 2016’s La La Land). It would go on to win 11, another tying record (with 1959’s Ben-Hur; it, too, would later get tied by 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). In addition to James Cameron nabbing an Oscar for Best Director, his producer credit got him the biggest prize of all that night, Best Picture. The only awards it wouldn’t take home that night were Best Actress (Kate Winslet), Best Supporting Actress (Gloria Stuart), and Best Makeup.

James Cameron is a long shot to take home the Best Director Oscar for his latest, Avatar: The Way of Water. But if he did win, he’d nix quoting it from his acceptance speech. Although, hearing him declare, “It’s called a punch, bitch!” would be a nice touch. The sequel has climbed to the #7 spot on the list of highest-grossing movies worldwide; Titanic is at #3.

What did you think of James Cameron’s Oscar speech? Was it cringe enough to apologize for? Let us know below!