Dolly Parton didn’t make it to the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on Sunday (Nov. 16) for this year’s Governors Awards, but that wasn’t a surprise. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which puts on the awards, had already said that her acceptance would be by video.
The entertainer announced on Sept. 28 that she was postponing an upcoming concert residency in Las Vegas to address health concerns. Her announcement became national news. Ten days later, she released a video attempting to clarify the situation and allay people’s fears.
But even though Parton wasn’t present at the event, her presence was strongly felt. Lily Tomlin, her co-star in the 1980 film Nine to Five, presented the award. Andra Day sang a soulful version of one of Parton’s most prized songs, “Jolene.” Fellow honoree Tom Cruise paid tribute to all of the night’s other honorees. Of Parton, he said: “American original, legendary singer/songwriter, actress, storyteller, humanitarian, your performances, your songs, your work, your soul, you’re part of the very fabric of all of our lives, and you show that compassion and creativity are not separate. They are the same burning light.”
Parton received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, “for her deep commitment to charitable efforts throughout her extraordinary career,” in the words of a keepsake handed out at the event. Other music stars who have received this award include Frank Sinatra (1970), Danny Kaye (1981), Quincy Jones (1994), Harry Belafonte (2014) and Debbie Reynolds (2015).
Cruise, choreographer Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas received honorary Oscar. Cruise’s award was presented “for his unwavering commitment to our filmmaking community, his vital support of the theatrical experience, and his unmatched body of work.” Allen’s was given “for her career as a trailblazing choreographer and actor. Her work across multiple disciplines has captivated and inspired generations.” Thomas’ award was “in recognition of artistic innovation, visionary eye and lasting influence in the field of production design.”
Here are seven highlights from the 2025 Governors Awards.
Comedian and actor Will Arnett opened the event with a dry joke about how the Governors Awards aren’t televised or livestreamed – and how that suited a crowd of stars and show-biz insiders. “People in entertainment, when they win awards they don’t want anybody to know about it.”
Tomlin had a hard time reading her remarks off a teleprompter, but it made her segment the comic highlight of the night. She would close one eye, saying that helped her see better with the other eye. After a while, when she just closed an eye, she got a laugh.
Tomlin also recounted the backstory on Nine to Five, saying that Jane Fonda had a draft of the film written as a drama, but then decided to change it to a comedy. She recruited Tomlin and then, driving home one day, heard Parton’s 1978 country hit “Two Doors Down” and decided she’d be perfect for the film.
Julia Roberts, Parton’s co-star in 1989’s Steel Magnolias, spoke thoughtfully in a video tribute. “Dolly’s power is one the world needs right now. It’s her empathy we’re grounded in, her belief in inclusion without judgment, her commitment to unifying us, to always wanting to build up and never tear down. Dolly appeals to everyone, coal miners and CEOs, drag queens and churchgoers. She’s able to bring people together no matter who they are or where they live, and she has never wavered in her commitment to giving back to people in need.”
Andra Day excelled on a soulful version of Parton’s 1973 classic “Jolene,” an interesting choice because it didn’t originate in a film. It was the only musical performance of the night.
Cruise capped a gracious acceptance speech by asking those people in the room who had worked with him over the years to stand. Many did. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is directing Cruise’s next movie, presented the award to the actor. Iñárritu won back-to-back Oscars for best director in 2015-16. Cruise is still waiting for his first competitive Oscar. He has received acting nods for Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Magnolia (1999) and best picture as a producer of Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
Debbie Allen got a laugh talking about Tom Cruise’s famous scene in his “tighty whiteys” in 1983’s Risky Business, but then she got serious. “My greatest mentors have always been my family … who raised their children believing that we were citizens of the universe, and that there were no boundaries, and that anything we could see we could be. … Movies helped us see a lot of that – and we were faced with brick walls and glass ceilings and White Only signs everywhere. But we grew up believing in ourselves. We grew up understanding what fight and faith is.” Allen’s award was presented by Cynthia Erivo.
Octavia Spencer, one of the stars of the 2016 film Hidden Figures, presented the award to Thomas, who served as production designer on the film.
“My journey to storytelling began as a poor, poor Black kid in one of the worst slums in Philadelphia,” Thomas said. “There were street gangs and poverty everywhere. And to escape that world, I immersed myself in books with characters like Sherlock Holmes and I read the writers Harper Lee, Shakespeare, James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams and Lillian Hellman. I would sit on my front stoop, and I would travel around the world. Now, the local gangs looked down on me and called me sissy. But that sissy grew up to the work with some of the great filmmakers.”
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