After the slap heard around the world, viewers are still reeling from The 94th Annual Academy Awards last night. While there will surely be memes and think-pieces for days following the moment with Will Smith and Chris Rock, theGrio is here to shout out some standout moments outside of that, including Questlove’s emotional win and major strides in representation across the board.
Five biggest moments at the Oscars
Questlove’s win
Unfortunately, that must-see moment happened right before a major win: Questlove earned his first Oscar for Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). As theGrio reported, the documentary feature highlights the long-forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the project shed light on the historic event that saw the likes of Mahalia Jackson, Sly and the Family Stone, and more.
Accepting the award mere moments after the now infamous slap, Questlove shared, “Oh My God…thank you.” After acknowledging the fellow nominees and his parents, Questlove referred to it as a “stunning moment,” that isn’t about him, but about “marginalized people in Harlem needing to heal.”
Before finishing his speech, he confessed he was, “overwhelmed,” and promised to thank everyone properly when he got off stage. “I’m so happy right now, I could cry,” he added. Check out the emotional speech below:
Megan Thee Stallion talks about Bruno
Encanto got to celebrate not only winning Best Animated Feature, but the # 1 hit from the film, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” at the ceremony on Sunday evening. With the cast performing the popular number for the first time, the show erupted into a massive celebration, complete with dancers, singers, and more.
The biggest surprise of the number, however, was when rapper Megan Thee Stallion joined the cast with a newly created verse. Bringing the popular song to the next level, the moment left many on social media begging for the “official remix” of the song. Check out the musical moment below:
The Queen of Basketball wins Documentary Short subject award
The Documentary Short Subject category was also a major one, as The Queen of Basketball took home the gold on Sunday night. The short film from The New York Times follows the story of basketball pioneer Lusia “Lucy” Harris, “a championship basketball player who led Delta State University to three straight national titles in the 1970s,” as theGrio previously reported.
She remains the school’s all-time scoring leader and was even the first woman to ever be drafted into the NBA. The project is produced by Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal. Check out the acceptance speech from director Ben Proudfoot below:
Representation overall
Listen, even though we may all be reeling from the pop culture moment that was the Oscars, the show was still a success on the representation front, due mostly to the masterful work by producer Will Packer. From the Beyoncé performance, the hilarious hosting from three of some the biggest women in comedy (Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall especially), and more, the show was truly unlike any Oscars we had seen before, and we are better for it. If the ratings of the ceremony are any indication, the show was certainly a success, as they were up 60% compared to last year’s Oscars, bringing in 6 million more viewers, per Forbes.
Early last week Packer sat down with Cortney Wills of theGrio, and broke down why King Richard meant so much to him as a Black father. Smith, of course, won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the film.
Packer told us, “I’m happy to say that, like King Richard, is 100% one of my favorite movies of the year. And why? As a Black father, seeing Black parents and especially the way that Will embodied that particular role…I know as a Black dad of Black children, you want your best, the best for your kids in a world that does not always want what’s best for them, right? You want them to succeed in a world that is not always designed for them to succeed.”
He also covered the relationship between Richard and his then-wife Oracene, as it was portrayed in the movie.
“The complexity of their relationship, the difficulty of their relationship, the beauty and success of their relationship…all of that is portrayed. And so they both did an amazing job. And so props and kudos to both of them.”
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