Blake Lively took home the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Actress for her role in The Shallows, and she used her speech to thank the Spice Girls. Yes, you read that right. Clearly overwhelmed by her win (she was up against Meryl Streep, after all), Blake Lively thanked the Spice Girls at the 2017 People's Choice Awards, crediting them for teaching her about girl power when she was just a little kid.
After thanking her fans and fangirling over getting her award from Westworld star Luke Hemsworth, Lively thanked the women who really matter: the Spice Girls.
"I was always an ambitious kid, so I set a goal for myself as a kid. And I knew if I could accomplish it that I would be successful, and I would be happy. And that was to meet the Spice Girls," Lively said, noting that she still hasn't met all of them.
"What was so neat about them is that they were all so distinctly different. And they were women, and they owned who they were, and that was my first introduction to girl power," Lively continued.
The Gossip Girl star thanked fans not only for voting for her to win the People's Choice Award, but for voting for girl power. "And I'm watching this movie and the women nominated in this category, and when you guys voted for this, you didn't just vote for this movie, or for me, but you voted for girl power," she said.
And Lively knows that there is always going to be an audience for Girl Power. "Thank you for sending a message to Hollywood that people want to hear stories about women," Lively added.
The Girl Power didn't stop there. Lively ended her speech with a call for fans to share their stories, however they can. "And we want to hear your stories. Whether it's social media, your iPhone, whatever, tell your stories — now more than ever. You need to be heard, you are valuable and no one can limit you," she concluded.
Lively may have just won a glamorous, Hollywood award, but, deep down, she's just another young woman who learned about feminism from one of the best girl groups in pop history. Stars, they're just like us!
