Hillary Clinton cracks joke about losing 2016 election in surprise Tony Awards appearance... but only fawning A-listers are laughing

Hillary Clinton cracked a joke about her 2016 election loss Sunday night during a surprise appearance at the 2024 Tony Awards.

Clinton came out to fawning applause and a standing ovation from almost the entire A-list crowd at the Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater in New York City .

She was there to present a performance from the musical Suffs, a Broadway show about the movement to give women the right to vote, which counts the former Secretary of State and First Lady as a producer.

Clinton began her introduction by attempting to nod at her now eight-year old electoral failure, which she recently blamed on women voters abandoning her.

'I have stood on a lot of stages, but this is very special,' Clinton said. 'I know a little bit about how hard it is to make change.' 

Many of the crowd who'd stood for Clinton earlier laughed at the reference to her loss to Donald Trump in 2016. 

'I'm extremely proud of this original American musical by Shaina Taub — now a two-time Tony winner,' she continued.

'And of course, it is about some American originals: the suffragists who fought so valiantly for so long to give women in our country the right to vote.'

Clinton then implored people to vote in the upcoming 2024 presidential election between Trump and President Joe Biden. 

'It's almost impossible to think about what a challenge that was, but now it's an election year, and we need to be reminded about how important it is to vote, so please welcome the company of Suffs!'

Many mocked Clinton's appearance and the audience that stood in near unison for the ex-Senator.

Ryan Gidursky wrote: 'Democrats were like, 'how do I do something more cringe than Robert DeNiro? Hillary Clinton: 'hold my drink'

Another user added: 'Hillary Clinton Appears at the Tony Awards to Make Election Year Pitch, Earning Applause from Entitled Elites. I loathe this woman.'

'Is this really how I found out that Hillary Clinton was executive producer of a musical about suffragettes called Suffs lmao. This is a 30 Rock bit,' joked another.

Vulture writer E. Alex Jung wrote: 'Cheers to whoever was brave enough not to do the standing ovation for Hillary Clinton.' 

However, some on X were excited to see Clinton and praised her fashion sense at the show.

'Hillary Clinton said 'It is Pride Month and I'm presenting on the #TonyAwards, I shall wear a fabulous caftan!' and GOOD. FOR. HER.' 

The show, which is still running on Broadway, did win the trophies for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score for Taub.

However, Suffs lost in the Best Musical category, which would've seen Clinton become a Tony winner.

Clinton has previously won an Emmy Award in 2023 and a Grammy Award in 1997. This was her first Tony nomination.

Angelina Jolie was joined on stage by daughter Vivienne, 15, as she was the biggest winner of the night at the 77th Tony Awards as the musical she produced earned top honors on Broadway's biggest night where Sarah Paulson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Jeremy Strong all won big. 

Paulson earned Best Actress in A Play for Appropriate, Radcliffe took home Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Merrily We Roll Along, and Strong triumphed in the Best Actor in A Play category for An Enemy Of The People. They were all first time winners.

The 49-year-old actress Angelina produced The Outsiders alongside one of her six children as the stage production earned four including top honor Best Musical at the star-studded event on Sunday night.

Angelina and Vivienne proudly applauded on stage next to each other as fellow producer Matthew Rego accepted the final gong of the night with an inspiring acceptance speech. 

The musical came in with a whopping 12 nominations as Vivienne notably dropped her father Brad Pitt's surname on her Playbill credit. 

The production also earned Best Direction of a Musical for Dayna Taymor, Best Sound Design of a Musical for Cody Spencer, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim.