Kristen Bell hails ‘watershed’ moment as she opens SAG awards

Kristen Bell called for “empathy and diligence” and hailed a “watershed moment” in Hollywood as she opened the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Good Place star, who is the first ever host of the ceremony, opened the show with a reference to the Time’s Up movement.

She said: “Everyone’s story deserves to be told, especially now, we are living in a watershed moment and as we march forward with active momentum and open ears,” she said.

“Let’s make sure we are leading the charge with empathy and diligence because fear and anger never win the race.”

During her opening monologue she appeared to make a dig at First Lady Melania Trump when she said her first initiative as “first lady” of the ceremony would be to tackle cyber bullying, “because I’m yet to see any progress on that issue”.

She also joked that the dystopian story of misogyny The Handmaid’s Tale is a “documentary”.

William H Macy was the first winner of the night, bagging the outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series for his role of Frank Gallagher in Shameless.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus scored the prize for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for playing Selina Meyer in Veep.

The star, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, was not present to collect her prize.

The cast of the political satire also bagged the prize for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.