Hilary Duff is a pro at delivering commencement speeches, thanks to her epic graduation speech as seen in The Lizzie McGuire Movie. So when it came time to deliver a real life one, the star pulled out all the stops and said some truly memorable words—which later divided the internet once the speech hit social media.
Hilary gave the commencement address during Northeastern University's graduation ceremony at Fenway Park in Boston on April 29, and in her time onstage, she encourage the graduates to stay true to themselves and be cautious about accepting opportunities before thinking it through.
“Just because something is a good opportunity or a good paycheck doesn’t mean it’s right,” she told the graduates and families in attendance. “By simply accepting what the world was offering to me, I was losing my own voice; I was reacting, instead of asking myself what I really wanted. That realization was a paradigm shift for me.”
“I knew I had to change my pattern of saying ‘yes,’ so I took a break from making music,” she continued. “Not because I didn’t know exactly what kind of album I wanted to make or what kind of stories I wanted to tell through my music, because I knew precisely what I wanted. But I somehow knew that I couldn’t authentically make it, yet.”
“So I made a choice, and I took a step back. I pivoted. I rebuilt myself, I refilled my tank, I put effort into my relationships, into building my family and building a business,” Hilary added. “I waited until I was ready to meet the moment. I realized that saying ‘no’ wasn’t rejection, it was redirection… I took back control of what I was building, and I reclaimed my story. And I realized my own agency. I’m grateful I had the ability to take that pause… the key is that I was choosing where my energy went instead of letting others choose for me. Don’t forget to pause and appreciate how far you’ve come.”
Though our fav actress-pop star’s advice was solid—um, why couldn’t she have spoken at MY graduation???—opinions on the speech were surprisingly divided, with some fully embracing Hilary’s message and praising her for being levelheaded in her career, while some noted that the “saying no” aspect of the speech is reserved for the privileged class only.
“I’m so happy for @hilaryduff for doing things on her terms, staying true to herself, and taking a step back when necessary,” one fan of the Younger star wrote on Instagram. “Everything I’ve seen of her recently has been so powerful, moving and motivating. She’s successfully balanced owning her past and reality and living fully and being present.” Another commenter added, “Saying no it also opens other doors, maybe one that matches your energy and happiness better.”
Those on the opposing camp noted that having a certain amount of money offers more opportunities to say no. “I love her but people in the real world can’t afford to say no to certain opportunities as freely. That’s a freedom that comes with having money,” one person wrote, while another user commented, “Many times we just don't have any other choice, right? Having the choice to say NO…it's a privilege.”
The discussion continued on Reddit, with a top comment reading, “Sadly, without financial freedom "every opportunity" is usually exactly one opportunity if that, and there is no luxury to be able to say no.” In response, another Redditor wrote, “I was at the ceremony and the people behind me were not having it 🤣 but yea 100% when you work some childhood and had success then you can afford a break later.”
I, personally, teared up hearing Hilary’s words (that is a separate conversation for my therapist), but you can listen to the speech in full and decide for yourself:
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