Foster: I Came Out 'a Thousand Years Ago'

Foster: I Came Out 'a Thousand Years Ago' (ABC News)

Jodie Foster's speech at the Golden Globes will definitely be the talk of the entertainment world tomorrow.

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Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement, she not only came out - as a single woman - but intimated that she was retiring from acting when she said she would not be returning to this stage or any stage.

"It's just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick," Foster said, bringing many in the audience to tears.

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Backstage, Foster clarified to reporters that she was not retiring from acting. "Oh that's so funny," she responded to reporters. "You couldn't drag me away. And I'd like to be directing tomorrow."

Foster told reporters that her speech came from the heart, because this point in her career feels like a graduation to her.

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In her stream-of-conscious though clearly rehearsed speech, Foster first shocked the audience by leading them to think that she was about to make a huge public statement about her sexuality. Instead, she said she was single, adding "I already did my coming out in the stone age."

"Now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference … You guys might be surprised, but I'm not Honey Boo Boo Child," she said, bringing laughter and applause.

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"If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler … then maybe you too might value privacy above all else. Privacy."

But Foster did specifically thank her ex-partner Cydney Bernard, with whom she has two kids. Both boys gestured to her from the audience.

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Jodie Foster's Golden Globes Acceptance Speech

Though 50 seems young to be receiving a lifetime achievement award, Foster pointed out in accepting her award, "Trust me, 47 years in the film business is a long time. … but tonight, I feel like the prom queen"

She ended her speech with, "Here's to the next 50 years."

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