The Lifetime Achievement Award, which was omitted from the live broadcast, was also given to composer John Kander.
It was an emotional evening for Jennifer Grey after the 63-year-old Dirty Dancing star was given the honor of presenting her father, Joel Grey, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Tony Awards.
Theater fans were shocked to see that the touching moment was not featured during the main broadcast of the annual Broadway awards show, but rather was shown in the live pre-show, which exclusively played on Pluto TV.
Jennifer began her tribute, joking, "Hi, friends of my dad. I'm Joel Grey's daughter, my name is Jennifer."
The proud daughter called the moment an "amazing honor," tearing up as she introduced her 91-year-old famous dad, who is a theater veteran.
Joel took to the stage to accept the honor, singing a portion of "Willkommen" from his hit musical, Cabaret, during his acceptance speech.
Composer John Kander, who wrote the score for Cabaret, also received a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was not featured in the broadcast.
The broadcast, which aired on CBS and Paramount+, did feature a dancing tribute number with the show's host, Ariana DeBose, and dancer Julianne Hough in honor of Joel and Kander and the pair came out for a wave at the end.
But many fans were disappointed not to see the Joel's special honor during the main broadcast, taking to Twitter to voice their frustrations.
Even actress and comedian, Jackie Hoffman, who posed with Jennifer and Joel at a Tonys after-party, tweeted, "Not Having @joelgrey and John Kander lifetime achievement recipients on the televised @TonyAwardsShow is the most appalling crime the Tonys have committed since not giving On the Town best revival in 2015."
Jennifer and Joel didn't publicly comment on being omitted from the broadcast, but Jennifer did post a selfie with her dad on the way to the show.
"Wheels up! on our way to the Tony’s with my dad! @joelgnyc #joelgrey #TonyAwards #lifetimeachievementaward #tonyawards2023," she captioned the sweet pic.
RELATED CONTENT:
