00:00Hi everyone, um, the broccolini was good. Okay. I firstly just want to thank everyone, uh, here in
00:12style. Thank you. This is really awesome. It's really beautiful. And it's truly my greatest
00:17honor tonight to be celebrating and loving on and just talking about Lacey Redway tonight.
00:25Yeah, it's just, it's my honor. So here we go. Like Kerry Washington, I'm going to start by talking
00:31about myself, um, just to provide some context about where I was at when I first met Lacey.
00:39So as a woman, but I, I think even more as a black woman, hair is very, very sensitive and personal
00:50and emotional. And I think that's whether or not you grew up getting it styled or pressed,
00:57or if you had it natural, it's just, it's just, it's a thing. And I didn't grow up going to salons.
01:03My mom and my aunts did my hair, my German father, God bless him, could never figure that out. So I
01:10only had this like very intimate familial experience with styling. And eventually I started exploring
01:17myself and doing my own thing. And I kind of just like perfected three different looks, which was
01:24a big fluffy bun, half up, half down, and then like a low pullback bun. And that's it. But this poses a
01:31problem when you need to start showing up on red carpets or movie sets and you need more than three
01:37looks. And I just couldn't really trust anyone else. It just wasn't something I felt very comfortable
01:44with. And my wonderful publicist, she told me that my hair was really beautiful and wonderful,
01:50but that I really should try someone. But I was very nervous because my whole life I was constantly
01:56met with confusion and questions regarding my Afro. And as someone who was new to the industry,
02:02the idea of opening up this Pandora's box of insecurities just felt really destabilizing. And I
02:08just felt so attached to my hair identity. And I didn't want to have this hair convo. I just
02:13wasn't into it. But Marla, my publicist, she, yeah, Marla's amazing. She told me, she was like,
02:21trust me, trust me. Lacey Redway is going to be your person. And she was right. Lacey indeed is and
02:34yes, is my person. We met at my first Emmys. And I had sent her some obscure references,
02:41including Marie Antoinette, which she knows is my number one reference. Every look, I'm like,
02:46I want to look like Marie Antoinette. And you know what? She was like, she didn't blink. She was
02:52like, all right, girl, let's do it. Like, I don't know. I'd never met her before. She was like,
02:56I don't know what's going on. But I think this is where her collaboration thrives.
03:01She can translate any image, idea, or sound or concept into hair. She has such good taste. And
03:12she consistently elevates your idea into something better. I can trust her. I can trust fall with her.
03:21And as I said before, I'm kind of conservative about my hairstyles that like I do at home.
03:24But Lacey allows me to explore. She pushes me. She has just like an innate aesthetic. She's profoundly
03:34creative. You feel safe making a silly suggestion. She volleys ideas with you. She yes ands you,
03:42which I know the actors around here will know that. And she'll push you with love. She'll say,
03:50let's try this style, even though you're nervous. And she recently, she convinced me to do,
03:54I haven't done cornrows in so long, because I have, I feel like I have a small head. So I feel
03:59like to make my head look smaller. But it was really cute. And it was a little finger wave. And
04:03actually, Kerry Washington saw me with that. Look. Yeah, she did. We sat next to each other at another
04:09really fun dinner. And I loved it, as per usual. Because with Lacey, I know that I can always land
04:17on my feet. She's obviously talented. But it's also how she goes about her work that makes her so
04:23special. I'm sure everyone in this room knows that this kind of work is really intimate.
04:30You're in each other's houses. You're in each other's mess. I'm naked in front of her all the
04:35time as she helps me tape my boobs into place. You're together. It's early. It's late. You're
04:40abroad. You're crusty. It's like uncertainty during really vulnerable moments. The show must always go
04:47on during heartbreak, during family difficulty, during pain, during sickness. But Lacey doesn't
04:56judge. She just shows up with a genuine smile. She's quiet and observant when you're needing some
05:03time to focus. But then she'll kiki when it's time to kiki. She'll drink a green tea with you. She'll make
05:08you food. She'll ask you, are you sure you're comfortable with that dress? Because I can say
05:13something if you're not comfortable with that dress. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, no. I'm an
05:18adult. I can go tell them that I'm not comfortable with the dress. But it's nice that Lacey's there
05:21to hype you up and, you know, let you know that it's okay to have a thought. And we've been working
05:28together for, I think it's like 10 years now. I think it's over 10 years now. We've both changed.
05:34We've grown. She continues to transform more and more into the woman that I hope to grow up to be
05:41one day. She's my rock in this industry. I love her as a hairstylist. But most importantly,
05:50I love her as a friend. I mean, we've been all over the world. We've been in London and Paris and New
05:58Jersey. We're borrowing each other's clothes and we cuddle up in hotel beds and we watch Alone on
06:03the History Channel. And we've talked about dreams for her beautiful and creative son, her most
06:08important person, her guiding light. She's inspired by him and just loves spending time with him. And
06:15we muse about ways to let his budding theater interest thrive. She's my sister. She's a mentor.
06:22She's deeply empathetic. She's deeply committed to her clients and to the people who work with her
06:28and for her. She has an unmatched work ethic and has risen to the top of her industry while fiercely
06:36maintaining her sensitivity, her kindness, and her grace. And that's really hard to do.
06:42I just respect so much that she's managed to balance warmth and care with being this powerhouse that she
06:49is. This immense talent. She can do anyone's hair. Any texture. She can do a soft blowout. She can do a
06:58textured sculpture. She can lead a runway team. She can do a morning show special and teach you how to
07:04elevate your big messy bun or your half up, half down or your little low little bun. She can add tiny
07:11dainty daisies to your delicate curls and she can weave in wires and engineer your crown. She can say yes
07:18and she does. It's powerful and it's magnificent and I am just so incredibly proud of her.
07:26So I love you Lacey. Congratulations. You have most certainly earned this wonderful moment.
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