Robby Hoffman was the most frequent presenter at the 2026 Independent Spirit Awards, and in between delivering some of the most shining commentary on Sunday, she had to jokingly walk back a claim she made when introducing a grant recipient.
The Hacks star hit the Hollywood Palladium stage to state the winners of the Spirit Awards‘ three grants: the Someone to Watch Award, the Truer Than Fiction Award and the Producers Award. While she was introducing the first honor, Hoffman joked that “you can spend the money how you want. I mean, what the hell do I care, right?” (Tatti Ribeiro, director of Valentina, earned the Someone to Watch Award last month.)
When Hoffman returned to launch the Truer Than Fiction Award segment, she joked that “the reason I’m back is they told me you’re actually not allowed to use the money however you see fit on the last grant.”
“I didn’t read the script that they apparently emailed that came out a couple of weeks ago,” Hoffman said. “I’m behind on my emails, that’s the truth.” She also clarified that with “any grant I ever got, I spent appropriately for a creative endeavor. I just want to make it very clear.”
“I didn’t buy a new mattress. I didn’t go to Musso and Frank’s. I didn’t do none of that, OK?” Hoffman continued as the crowd laughed. “I’m here giving out another grant, and that is a grant to be used specifically for a specific creative endeavor. Unless you’re making a documentary about mattresses, you are not to buy a new one.”
She concluded, “That said, you think I’m gonna tell? Just keep your shit on the low. Be smart about it, okay?” When Hoffman pronounced that the results of said winners were announced a month prior, she hilariously quipped, “Alright, what are we doing here?”
During her final appearance at the 2026 Spirit Awards, to segway into the Producers Award, the Emmy Award nominee said that with its attached grant, “you can actually spend any way you want.”
“Yes, I talked to them backstage. This is actually one you can spend,” Hoffman added. “It’s a grant, but it’s all in the language. Remember language? This says ‘unrestricted grant.’ So the other ones, I was wrong, my bad. It was a grant for a project.”
The Spirit Awards were hosted by Ego Nwodim on Sunday at the Hollywood Palladium. The ceremony streamed live on the Film Independent and IMDb YouTube channels.
Train Dreams was awarded the title of best feature, finishing Sunday’s ceremony with three awards (Clint Bentley won best director and Adolpho Veloso won best cinematography). See the full 2026 Spirit Awards winners list here.
And check out all the sparkly blue carpet looks here.
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