Candice Bergen came out swinging on Sunday night.
She just did it in a somewhat hushed tone.
At one point during the 2024 Emmy Awards, viewers and attendees were taken by surprise when the legendary actress came out on stage to present the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
This was honor Bergen won five times for her portrayal of news broadcaster Murphy Brown on the TV sitcom of the same name.
Prior to revealing the name of this year’s winner, Bergen took a jab at Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance while alluding to one of the most famous moments from Murphy Brown.
“For 11 years, I had the tremendous privilege of playing the lead in a comedy series called Murphy Brown,” Bergen said before a rapt audience, who had just given her a standing ovation.
“In one classic moment, my character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother.”
Added Bergen in sarcastic fashion:
“Oh how far we’ve come… Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids.”
The actress concluded her joke with a “meow,” referencing J.D. Vance’s infamous 2021 interview in which he said that “childless cat ladies” are ruining America.
Bergen has received attention for this joke, but also for the way she delivered it.
Many observers couldn’t help but note the star’s somewhat stilted and slow speech, prompting curiosity over her health status and general well-being.
One helpful fact, of course, may be that Candice Bergen is 78 years old.
But here’s another: She suffered a stroke in 2006.
Yes, that was a very long time ago.
But Bergen said in 2012 that the stroke impacted her memory, which was never the “same” after the incident.
“The reality is that I don’t look like I used to look,” the actress also said back then. “I just don’t care enough, and in a way it’s saved me.
Bergen emphasized this same point in her 2015 memoir, writing simply:
“Let me just come right out and say it – I am fat.
“In the past 15 years … I have put on 30 pounds. I live to eat. None of this ‘eat to live’ stuff for me.”
At the age of 78, Bergen also lives to make us laugh and, all things considered, is doing very well.
We’re not sure if the same can be said of J.D. Vance.