Da'Vine Joy Randolph has swept awards season and stolen our hearts with her Oscars acceptance speech.
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At the 2024 Academy Awards, one of the first winners to take the stage was Da'Vine for Best Supporting Actress for her groundbreaking role in The Holdovers.
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Moments before her name was announced, Lupita Nyong'o (who won Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave) praised Da'Vine, and it was a certified tear-jerker moment.
“Your performance is tribute to those who have helped others heal in spite of their own pain,” Lupita said before adding the film was also connected to Da'Vine's family. “Your performance is…also in tribute to your grandmother whose glasses you wore in the film."
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When Da'Vine finally took the stage to accept her award, nobody could predict how moving her speech would be. "I didn’t think I was supposed to be doing this as a career,” she said. “I thank my mother for doing that. I thank all the people who have been there for me, ushered me, and guided me."
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"I prayed for so long… I've always wanted to be different, but now I realize that I just need to be myself. Thank you for seeing me.”
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Da'Vine went on to thank a meaningful mentor, saying, "When I was the only Black girl in that class, when you saw me and you told me I was enough, and when I told you I don't see myself...you said 'that's fine, we're gonna forge our own path. You're gonna lay a trail for yourself.'"
"When I was the only Black girl in that class, when you saw me and you told me I was enough, and when I told you I don't see myself...you said 'that's fine, we're gonna forge our own path. You're gonna lay a trail for yourself.'”
—Oscar-winner (!) Da'Vine Joy Randolph pic.twitter.com/FZXfu88GGS
But the moment that stole the night and set a hilarious trend for following acceptance speeches happened when Da'Vine thanked her publicist. “I have to give a special shoutout to my publicist. I know you said, ‘Don’t say anything about your publicist!’ — but you don’t have a publicist like mine,” causing the crowd to break out in laughter.
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“I’m forever grateful.”
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English (United States) ·