00:00All right, all right. Bradford Whitley, my man. I have to tell you, I am truly amazed and honored
00:09to be standing here celebrating with you on this momentous occasion. When I first met you,
00:14I was a young man. I was looking for a messenger job, and you had the nerve to offer me
00:20a bigger
00:21and better job working with that young man right there. You know, at that time, I could not have
00:28fathomed in my mind's eye. You know, that was 27 years ago. I could not have fathomed in my mind's
00:33eye that for over a quarter of a century more, all of our lives would be so closely intertwined.
00:39It has been a gift to watch your life evolve and grow. Through seasons of transition and change,
00:45you have faced life and stayed open with the beauty that lies ahead, and truly, it has been
00:50inspirational. If I could describe you in one word, Brad, it would be consistent, consistent
00:55professionally in the magnificent work you've done over the years, consistent confidently
01:00as you support or you advocate for the causes that are near and dear to you. But the one that
01:06sticks out the most to me is consistent personally. You have been personally consistent with me for
01:11the course of the times that I've known you, and I truly appreciate that. No, thank you. I just thank
01:16him.
01:16Yes. You know, whenever I call, you always answer, and that resonates with me. Okay, let me clarify.
01:26Whenever I call, at some point within the near future, you're going to always respond eventually.
01:37You may not necessarily answer, but you will respond eventually. And look, it's understandable.
01:41You're always on the move. I mean, I can't keep up with you. I don't think anybody can keep up
01:45with
01:45him. Amy, maybe you can. I don't know. No one ever knows where in the world Brad is. So as
01:51a matter
01:51of fact, they should just retire Waldo and publish Where's Brad? You know, and nobody would blink an
01:56eye. It would all make perfect sense. One minute he's in Toronto. The next minute he's here in LA.
02:01Then before you know it, he's in Italy or Budapest filming something. And somehow, while he's still in
02:07Italy and Budapest, he's magically in Wisconsin or some other state that needs his help to get out the
02:12vote, he's there at the same time. It's really impressive how you manage it all, you handle it
02:17all, and you do it with grace. You know, as I look at you, what I see is a bright
02:23and shining light.
02:24And that really is true. You are a beacon of dedication, of service, of community, of humanity,
02:30of family, of love, of artistry. You are a beacon of a life well lived. My grandmother, she would always
02:37say to me, later will be greater. And when I look at your life, and I see the faces of
02:43your family,
02:44I see Francis and George and Mary Louisa and Iris, and of course, the beautiful and wonderful Amy
02:51Landecker. I can only hear my grandmother's words echoing through in my ear. Your later is most
03:00definitely greater, Brad. And your light is shining so wonderfully bright. Your star is shining so
03:06magnificently bright. Not as bright as Allison Janney's, but it's still bright. I mean, come
03:14on. I mean, it's Allison Janney. It's Allison Janney, Brad Whitford. I mean, come on. But here's the
03:19thing. The least a good thing is that it will always be sitting right next to Allison's on this
03:23magnificent walkway. People will walk on by. They'll see Allison's star. They're like, oh my
03:28gosh, that's Allison Janney. She's so beautiful. She's so amazing. She's so wonderful. And then
03:33they'll slide their gaze to the side. They'll be like, oh, that's Bradley Whitford. Okay. And
03:38they'll keep on walking by. You know what I mean? Congratulations, my man, on this magnificent
03:42honor. I'll tell you this. I love you. My family loves you. I know the West Wing family
03:48loves you, including Josh Molina. And we're all so incredibly proud of this accomplishment
03:54for you. Keep on shining.
