Actor/playwright Cole Escola claimed the Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play category at this year’s Tony Awards for his title performance in the self-penned show, Oh, Mary! He used the moment to snipe at his perceived “homophobe” critics.
In the press room following the win, Escola hailed Oh, Mary!’s success as a riposte to those he believes automatically considered the production “a commercial risk due to the show’s undeniably queer perspective,” Playbill reports.
When asked to respond to such naysayers after the 78th edition of the annual awards held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Escola was brief, saying, “Fuck off!”
Earlier Escola walked the red carpet before the awards began:
Man wearing a dress bares his hairy chest at the Tony Awards.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) June 9, 2025
So brave. pic.twitter.com/WTPj24Ol5f
AFP reports Escola won his Tony based on his performance in the one-act reimagining of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination through the eyes of his wife.
Escola finished top of a stacked field that included George Clooney.
Oh, Mary! also snagged the prize for best direction, won by Sam Pinkleton.
Sam Pinkleton (left) and Cole Escola at the 78th Annual Tony Awards held at Radio City Music Hall on June 08, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images)
“You have taught me to make what you love and not what you think people want to see,” Pinkleton gushed in his speech, speaking directly to a tearful Escola, AFP notes.
“We can bring joy to people at the end of a crappy day and that feels like a big deal to me,” Pinkleton added.
