Heughan was presented with the International Icon from Esquire and posted about the achievement on Instagram. The actor shared a few photos from the night, including one taken during a handshake between Heughan and tennis star Rafael Nadal. The Outlander star captioned the post, “Thank you @esquirees , wonderful night celebrating “Esquire Man of the Year 2022”. Honoured to accept the “International Icon” and celebrate with some incredible people. Congrats to @rafaelnadal !” Nadal won the most significant award of the night–the Man of the Year grand prize–while Heughan and others won for specific categories like music and acting. Heughan received many congratulations in the comments, with one fan writing, “Congratulations Sam! 🙌🏼 Your acceptance speech was so moving. Well deserved honour, and I hope you enjoyed all the celebrations! ✨🖤👏🏼.” The event, which was hosted by Esquire Spain, shared a clip of Heughan nailing a short introduction in Spanish at the beginning of his acceptance speech. While there were some jokes at the start, Heughan became more serious as he thanked the women in his life, including his mother, his Outlander co-star Caitriona Balfe, his makeup artist Wendy Kemp Forbes, and his agent, Ruth Young. Heughan then took a moment to honor and bring attention to the women fighting in Afghanistan and Iran, saying, “I’d also like to acknowledge the brave women across the world, and in particular, the courageous women of Afghanistan and Iran. It is hard, I know, to know how to support them in their fight against injustice and for equality, but it is important for us to keep the focus on their struggle and shine a light on their bravery.” Congratulations to the actor!
