The palladium-catalysed direct arylation of acetanilides by using C-H activation methodology has been demonstrated. Several acetanilides were coupled with aryl iodides in the presence of 10 mol% of Pd(OAc)2, 1·0 equiv of Cu(OTf)2, and 0·6 equiv of Ag2O to afford the corresponding products in moderate to excellent yields. The results showed that the amount of Ag2O was important for this protocol.