By Catalina Perez-De Arminan and Ashly Ibarra
Ever since “The Slap” during the 64th Academy Awards held this past Sunday, March 27, Will Smith has dominated headlines worldwide. If you miraculously have not heard about this unforgettable incident, it happened after Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith during his presentation of Best Documentary. Seconds later, Will Smith stepped on the stage and slapped Rock, something entirely unexpected and unscripted. Since then, celebrities like Jim Carrey, O.J. Simpson, and Liam Payne have weighed their opinions. Unfortunately, one thing we don’t hear much about is how the extended speech time for Smith resulted negatively for other award winners, like Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, whose speech was interrupted twice while receiving the International Feature Award for Drive My Car.
Ariana Debose made history at the Oscars as the first openly queer woman of color to win best actress in a supporting role. “For anyone who has ever questioned their identity, there is indeed a place for us,” she said. Debose won for her role as Anita in West Side Story making it her first Oscar nomination and win.
Another highlight of the night was when Troy Kotsure won the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the first deaf man to win in this category for his work in Coda. The film made history, becoming the first film with a predominantly deaf cast to win Best Picture. Coda also won the Academy Award for Best Writing.
Bruce Willis is stepping away from Hollywood after being diagnosed with aphasia. A language disorder often caused by a stroke, head injury, or brain tumor. Affecting a person’s ability to express and understand written and spoken language. His daughter shared on Instagram a photo of her dad with the caption “To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
Latest Announcements:
HBO revealed the release date for Game of Thrones prequel “House of the Dragon.” The spinoff takes place 200 years before GOT. The ten-episode drama will be released on August 21.
Netflix announced Elliot Page’s character in The Umbrella Academy will come out as transgender in the third season releasing June 22. Elliot took to Twitter to share a photo of his character Viktor Hargreeves.