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Audra McDonald credited her 9-year-old daughter, Sally, for inspiring the closing of her 2026 New York Women in Film and Television Muse Awards’ acceptance speech
Sally’s impromptu karaoke performance the night before helped McDonald find the energy and words to finish her speech
Previously, McDonald reflected on how motherhood, especially raising Black daughters, influences her work and connection to her roles
Audra McDonald‘s daughter helped her put the finishing touches on her award’s speech.
During her acceptance speech at the 2026 New York Women in Film and Television Muse Awards, the actress and mom of two, 55, gave a sweet shout out to her daughter Sally, 9, whom she shares with husband Will Swenson, for unintentionally helping her finish her speech. To close out her speech, the doting mom shared that she felt “tired” and “lost” while she was writing her speech.
“My husband and I were trying to get our very bright, bouncy, overtired, 9-year-old daughter today. And those of you who are parents know what that moment is, we know what that moment is like, where the bedtime is the last thing they want,” she continued, sharing that her daughter, who has a big personality, grabbed a handheld karaoke machine and began singing the lyrics to a Jessica Deshong song.
“Women are history makers. Movers and shakers. You can’t mistake. Their impact on our lives. Women are history makers. Movers and shakers. Ground breakers. Time to recognize. Time to recognize,” she sang, attempting to sound like her daughter. “I was listening. And then I asked her, ‘Where did you hear that?’ She said, ‘I was just singing a song on YouTube.’ “
Audra McDonald
Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
McDonald went on to say that the light and energy came back for her in the moment, and she knew exactly how to end her speech.
“And just like that, there it was, the light came back in. My muse, right on cue, full of joy, full of life, full of possibility, not quietly, loudly, with reverb, right in my face,” the proud mom noted. “So I’m going to leave you with that and encourage all of us, myself included, to keep reaching toward that light.”
In addition to her daughter Sally, McDonald is a mom to adult daughter Zoe, 23, whom she welcomed during a previous relationship. The Gypsy actress, who starred as Rose during the Broadway show’s run, told PEOPLE at the 2025 ‘Meet the Nominees’ press event ahead of the 2025 Tony Awards. McDonald opened up about how being a mother of two off-stage impacts what she does on-stage.
“I can’t carry my real daughters on stage with me because the way my character Rose mothers is a very different way than I mother my daughters,” McDonald said. “But I carry the depth of motherhood on stage with me because I know what that is. And I carry the depth of mothering daughters on stage with me. And I carry the depth of mothering Black daughters on stage with me, for sure.”
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While her approach to motherhood is very different than Rose — the ultimate showbiz matriarch, who will do anything to make her daughter a Vaudeville star — McDonald said she still connects deeply with the character’s fierce love and fierce ambition.
“That’s certainly how I was raised,” she said at the time. “The Black women in my life — my aunts, my grandmothers, my ancestors — it was all about, ‘I’ve got to protect you.’ And if it means you need to do this in order to stay safe, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
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