The buzz surrounding this year’s Academy Awards was deafening. From #OscarsSoWhite to boycotts from major actors, actresses and directors to Chris Rock‘s highly-anticipated opening monologue and a bewildering appearance from controversial vixen-turned-Fox News analyst Stacey Dash, there will be no shortage of water cooler conversations this week thanks to last night’s action-packed ceremony.
One of the biggest story lines however had nothing to do with Hollywood’s diversity and inclusion problem. It was Leonardo DiCaprio, who was 0-for-5 in his career at the Oscars prior to last night, and it was a glaring doughnut in the win column for the fan favorite. After appearing in stellar, mind-boggling films like Inception, Titanic, The Aviator, Blood Diamond and Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio had yet to be recognized by the Academy, and it was a statistic in danger of tarnishing his legacy the way not having won an ring hangs over a superstar athlete.
Thankfully for DiCaprio, last night brought an end to his Oscar drought, as he won the coveted Best Actor award for his daring performance in The Revenant, which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tom Hardy), and netted Alejandro Inarritu the Best Director victory. Shortly after he was announced the victor, DiCaprio delivered a gracious and socially conscious acceptance speech, which you can watch above.
