Oscars
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Actor Anthony Anderson Offers to Marry ‘Gary From Chicago’ and His Fiancee
If there was anyone from Sunday night’s Oscars who had the time of their lives, it was Gary from Chicago and his fiancee, Vickie. The lucky couple were part of a tour-bus group that got to mix and mingle with celebrities in the midst of the award show. Gary Coe and Vickie immediately went viral…
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Even When White People Finally Get It Right, They Still Get It Wrong
In one of the most entertaining “spontaneous” bits I’ve ever seen performed at the Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel allowed a group of flabbergasted and starstruck tourists into the Dolby Theater to walk past the audience. This, of course, introduced the world to #GaryFromChicago and his wife — computer generated composites of every Black uncle and…
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Congrats to Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis, Ezra Edelman, Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney for Their Oscar Wins!
Mahershala Ali set the tone for the evening as he walked onstage to accept the first award of the night. Ali, who won for best supporting actor in Moonlight, made history as he became the first Muslim actor to ever win an Academy Award. “I want to thank my teachers, my professors,” Ali said. “One…
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#EnvelopeGate: How the Oscars Screwed Up Moonlight’s Moment
As those involved with the movies up for the best picture award at Sunday’s Oscars were sitting on pins and needles, most people at home were just ready for the show to finally end. And, boy, did it end with a bang. Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway read that La La Land was the…
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Denzel Washington ‘Marries’ Tour-Bus Couple
Although Denzel Washington was robbed of an Oscar on Sunday, he made a dream come true for a couple straight off a Hollywood tour bus. During the Oscars, a group of tourists were tricked into thinking they were going to see a costume exhibition, but they were actually taken into the theater where the Oscars…
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2017 Academy Awards Open Thread
Will Moonlight pull the upset, or will La La Land’s unstoppable celebration of cinematic Whiteness prevail? Will Uncle Denzel and Viola and Mahershala walk away with hardware? Will we have another “Hidden Fences” moment? Will Jimmy Kimmel do something — anything — funny? Let’s see!
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Who Could, Should and Will Win at the 89th Academy Awards
I have a complicated relationship with the Academy Awards. As I’ve said before, when we need the approval and validation of the dominant group in order for us to see our own work as valuable, we engage in a form of internalized racism that centers whiteness even as we engage in the subversive work of…
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Cheryl Boone Isaacs Put the Oscars on a Path Toward Diversity. Will Her Successor Continue the Trend?
Tonight’s 89th annual Academy Awards will be very different from last year’s broadcast or even the year before. In 2015 and 2016, there were no black actors or actors of color nominated in any acting categories. One of the reasons activist April Reign was so successful in launching her #OscarsSoWhite movement in protest was that…
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Watch: In Focus With Moonlight Director Barry Jenkins, Who’s Vying for Oscar on Sunday
Editor’s note: In Focus is a video series showcasing the new wave of black filmmakers. Earlier this year, before Barry Jenkins’ critically acclaimed film Moonlight went on to earn eight Academy Award nominations—including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay—the writer-director sat down with The Root to discuss how he got involved with the…
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Dear Oscars: Don’t Do to Moonlight What You Did to These 5 Black Films
Oscar season is upon us. On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor what it deems to be the best films of 2016 during the 89th Academy Awards. After two years of #OscarsSoWhite, this year we have a record six black acting nominees, three films with predominantly black…