The 89th Academy Awards seesawed between jabs at US President Donald Trump and passionate arguments for diversity and inclusivity, with early awards going to Viola Davis and Mahershala Ali.
Ali, 43, who played the mentor to a young black boy in ‘Moonlight’, was one of a record seven actors of colour nominated for Oscars this year.
US President Donald Trump and actress Meryl Streep also took center stage on the movie industry’s biggest night as host Jimmy Kimmel fired off political zingers after an awards season marked by celebrity opposition to Trump.
"I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?" quipped Kimmel in an apparent reference to Trump's crackdown on immigrants and travellers from seven majority Muslim nations.
Streep, 67, was given a standing ovation by the Oscar audience when Kimmel recalled how Trump had derided the actress as “overrated” after she attacked him at the Golden Globes ceremony in January.
"Meryl Streep has phoned it in for more than 50 films in the course of her lackluster career," Kimmel quipped as triple Oscar winner Streep squirmed in her seat.
With a leading 14 nominations, romantic musical ‘La La Land’ looks set to dance away with an armful of Academy Awards, including best picture, for its love letter to artistic ambition and Los Angeles itself.
If it turns out to be a big night for‘ La La Land’ starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a jazz pianist and a struggling actress, it would be the first musical to win best picture at the Academy Awards since ‘Chicago’ in 2003.
"It's been such a surprise. We had no idea it would get this kind of reception," Gosling told reporters on the red carpet on Sunday. "It seems to be speaking to people in a deeper way and that's a nice feeling."
Elsewhere, Iranian Oscar-nominated director Asghar Farhadi boycotted Sunday's ceremony because of Trump's travel ban.
The directors of all five Oscar-nominated foreign language films on Friday denounced what they called a "climate of fanaticism and nationalism" in the United States and elsewhere.
The Blue Ribbon Statement
Best actress nominee Ruth Negga, ‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and supermodel Karlie Kloss stepped out wearing blue ribbon pins as a symbol of solidarity with the American Civil Liberties Union.
They’re showing support for the ACLU, which says the ribbon is a way for stars to stand up “for the rights of everyone as guaranteed under the Constitution.” “Loving” star Negga kicked off the trend among the stars, wearing the pin on her red, flowing, long-sleeve gown.
"They're a big part of our film," Negga said of the movie that chronicles the love story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple who fought for their right to be married.
Miranda also sported the ribbon on the red carpet, as did his date, his mother Dr Luz Towns-Miranda.
"I'm wearing an ACLU ribbon because they're fighting incredible fights right now for American ideals."
Kimmel Tweets to Trump
Kimmel decided to take action after he observed that Donald Trump hadn’t tweeted all night. He tweeted at Trump live on stage, saying he was "worried" about the president after the show had gone on for more than two hours.
Both the tweet got lakhs of re-tweets within minutes of getting posted.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters.)
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