On Sunday, February 28, Chris Rock hosted the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. “Mad Max: Fury Road” cleaned up with six Oscars including best costume design and best makeup and hairstyling, and Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his much-awaited Oscar for best actor in “The Revenant”. View the full list of award winners here. DiCaprio’s acceptance speech included a plea for viewers to combat climate change.
“Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating,” DiCaprio said.
Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins an Oscar after four previous nominations. The internet goes crazy.
The real surprise, though was “Spotlight”, a film about the investigation of a sex abuse scandal involving Catholic priests, which won the award for best picture and best original screenplay, beating out “The Revenant,” which many expected to go all the way.
Producers and cast of “Spotlight” accept award for Best Picture
Host Chris Rock wasted no time tackling the diversity issues highlighted prior to the event. “You’re damn right Hollywood is racist,” he said. “If they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job,” he said. “You’d be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.” Some of his more controversial lines got gasps from the audience, but the event seemed to go well regardless. That might’ve been because he helped his daughter sell the audience Girl Scout cookies.
The New York Daily news headline Monday morning, criticizing Rock’s controversial humor