The people have spoken! Jennifer Aniston was honored with the second-ever People’s Icon Award at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards on Sunday, November 10.
The seven-time People’s Choice Award winner, 50, was introduced by her friend and frequent costar Adam Sandler, who hilariously recalled how the two first met when they were both struggling actors. The former Saturday Night Live cast member revealed in a touching speech that 30 years ago the pair ate at the same deli in Los Angeles, but ran out to avoid paying the check.
“You are an icon, so thanks for still doing movies with me,” Sandler, 53, said to Aniston as they took the stage again later that night to accept the award for Comedy Movie of 2019.
“Adam! When did you get so mushy?!” Aniston said to her Murder Mystery costar in her Icon speech. “Oh, my God, I love this man with all my heart. This is one of the kindest human beings you’ll ever meet.”
The TV and movie megastar continued, joking, “As actors, we don’t do this for the critics or for each other or to make our families proud, we do this for the money. No! I’m kidding! We do it for you guys, seriously, we really do. None of us could do what we do if it was not without all of you.”
“If I have any claim to this word ‘icon’ it’s because I was able to be on an iconic show. Friends was the gift of a lifetime … You believed in us, and you believed in those impossibly large apartments,” she said, thanking the show’s die-hard fans, who have continued to make the ‘90s sitcom one of the most-watched shows on Netflix.
“It paved the way for everything,” Aniston said of the beloved television series that made her a household name. “Thank you for being on this journey with me and I love you guys. Thank you for sticking by me.”
